Naruto: Bijuu Chronicles
by YetAnotherAnon
Summary: Bijuus were not simply self-conscious chakra constructs as ninja believed, but complex beings with complex origins. Some were as blindly malevolent as expected, while others were gifted with a keen mind. How does this affect Naruto?
1. Prologue

Note: If Daneel Rush is reading this, please forgive me for twisting the idea behind your _Fuuton: Sasayaku Kaze no Jutsu_ into the _Kaze no Teisei_ in the next chapter. I'd be willing to modify it if you wish.

Note 2: As per the rules of this site, I try to avoid "self-insertions" as much as possible. Therefore, I will avoid responding to reviews within the story as much as possible, though I'll try to always credit the original authors for their ideas, and I'll also always try to warn the users when I'm using ideas without the author's explicit permission. There are some issues that I do address in the A/N section, though those are rare. Rest assured, though, that I will respond to reviews if you leave questions or issues there.

Note 3: This story no longer follows canon as of chapter 499 (manga). I may use some later elements if they fit the storyline, but don't expect anything true in canon after chapter 499 to have any significance here.

(Just in case it's needed) Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters in there. This story was written for my own pleasure; I gain no monetary remuneration from it.

* * *

In a time long forgotten, in a time when each man had to fend for himself and could not trust enough to stand any other's presence, demons freely roamed the earth alongside animals and men. There were giant demons with hooves and twisting horns, demons with wings and with snouts blunted at the nose and dripping venom from their razor-sharp fangs, demons with chalk-white skin and ruby eyes that would suck the blood from their hypnotized victims, demons of bone and sharp angles, and many more than any man could possibly imagine. Yet for all these differences, all the peculiarities unique to each clan, one hobby united them all: disseminating pain.

These were creatures of chaos, of war, and catastrophes invariably followed them wherever they went. Some delivered the bubonic plague much as one would offer toys to children, while others simply decimated any populations unfortunate to stand in their wandering paths and left the remnants to deal on their own with the hygienic issues resulting from the carnage. Some, however, delighted in producing more subtle forms of misery: either through torture or mating, they forced their own uniqueness onto humans, forced all manners of mutation. If perchance their victims survived the ordeal, they would observe the results of their experiments with an infernal laugh before leaving the monstrosities to their fate. While some were so hideous that they were slain upon sight, others were either powerful enough or resembled humans enough that they were allowed to live, heavily bearing the burden of their parentage in a lifelong bid to survive.

This persisted until one day a human arose with two such deformities. One was the _Mokuton_, the ability of wielding water and earth simultaneously to yield wood. The other was the _Byakugan_: silvery irises with no pupil. Through these eyes he was able to see the demons' trickery for what it was: simple chakra usage. He assimilated their techniques and roamed the land to remove the demon population while spreading his teachings so that another may take up his task of he were to fail.

Through this endeavor he would eventually gain from one of his foes a new _doujutsu_, the _Rinnegan_. The _jutsus_ associated with the _doujutsu_ were of such power that it would earn him the title of the _Rikudou Sennin_, the Sage of Six Paths, a man who would forever be remembered in legend first as the Scourge of Demons and later, when the era of demons faded from Humanity's forefront as memories were wont to do, the father of _ninjutsu_.

However, just as the memory of demons dissipated into naught, the one great resistance the hordes of Demons put up was also lost with the passage of time, and men also forgot all about a group that refused to pass away so easily. These were the animal totems, animals that had grown beyond their limitations, animals that had transcended the boundaries of both size and power. Some of these clans recognized the error of the Demon ways and yielded themselves to Summoning Contracts subjugating them to the service of humans, and some even fought among themselves to spread the way of peace.

There were however twelve who refused to tame their ways, who denied their defeat. Pushed to the edge, they did the unthinkable: the Twelve Legendary Clan Heads met to discuss an alliance of Demons. These Twelve Head Clans were by far the most powerful of their Clan and the very embodiment of the animals they represented: the Rats with their keen wit, the Oxen known for their determination, the Tigers with their unparalleled control over fire, the swift and numerous Hares, the Dragons with their might and power, the calculating and analytical but deceptive Serpents, the Horses with their infinite stamina, the quiet Rams known for their bull-headedness, the mischievous and clever Monkeys, the Rooster usually rejected for their overbearing self-righteousness, the Dogs and the impossible good luck on their side, and the Boars with their infamous greed and the resulting power from the treasure-trove of techniques and gadgets.

After a long and passionate discussion, the Twelve reached an agreement. The Clan Heads would renounce their individual existence to merge together for the greater good of the Demons. Thus was born the _Juubi_, a mighty Ten-Tailed Demon. When the _Byakugan _user faced this new monstrosity, even he could not see the individual animals, though he knew which they were. All that stood before him was a Demon with an enormous, oppressive chakra, and abilities that dwarfed even his own. The creature's tenketsu system shifted faster than even his _Byakugan _could follow, while the chakra disruption blades which had served him so faithfully in the past now shattered before the foul energy of the beast.

More frightening, though was the _doujutsu _that surpassed his own in sheer power: dimensional vortices appeared at the _Juubi_'s command and black flames, unquenchable in their thirst, morphed and warped almost as if alive, both protecting the _Juubi _from attacks as well as harassing he who would be known as the _Rikudou Sennin_. Gravity itself would obey the _Juubi_ while various animals in the area would find themselves marked by the _doujutsu_ and constrained to follow the _Juubi_'s will and statues of demonic nature would erupt from the ground on a whim from the _Juubi_.

It was losing battle for the _Rikudou Sennin_. Not only did the _Juubi_ possess the standard chakra techniques the _Rikudou Sennin_ had previously seen, but there were also effects which seemed as magic even to him. Creating a concentrated fireball that did not disperse, forming dragons out of water, creating an impregnable lava wall; all this and more puzzled him. After the _Juubi _split itself into two creatures, each as ferocious as the other, the _Byakugan_ user suddenly understood the mysterious new abilities of the _Juubi_. Each of the Clan Heads molded their chakra distinctively and had a few properties unique to their molding method. By combining the different chakra systems, they were able to collaborate to mold their distinctive chakra into new combinations, thus creating a more versatile and much stronger arsenal of techniques.

However, even with this new insight, the human was unable to match the raw power and versatility of the _Juubi_. With his back was pressed to the wall, he attempted a desperate gambit: in a huge burst of chakra, he summoned his own _Mokuton _abilities to simultaneously hold his opponent at bay with wooden stakes while retrieving the paper manuscript from the heart of his opponent. As soon as it was visible, he snatched it away from his opponent, and forced all of his _Mokuton_ abilities to assimilate the scroll into his own body.

In an ear-splitting screech, the Demon finally yowled in pain for the first time since the start of the battle and flailed its ten tails in all directions while blindly throwing its chakra around, causing unprecedented destruction in its vicinity. The man held his ground and ever-so-slowly, his opponent's very soul leaked out of its solid shell in the form of ethereal strands of chakra that coalesced into a black miasma before seeping into the _Rikudou Sennin_. After the process finally completed successfully, the _Rikudou Sennin_ possessed both the power and the abilities of the _Juubi_, thus marking him as the very first _jinchuuriki._ Without much effort, the remainders of the Legendary Twelve Clans were cowed into submission and agreed to the same Contract as the rest of the existing demons.

A long period of peace reigned afterwards. The _Rikudou Sennin_ seized the opportunity to investigate the properties of each of the Twelve Clans' peculiar chakra system and devised a set of twelve handseals which would mold the chakra in the peculiar way of the original Clan Head. Once this was done, he wrote down the properties of each animal from his own experience, and also made sure to record the different combinations that had been used in the battle, as well as any he invented. One prominent addition manipulated the very time-space fabric of existence, which he put to use by rewriting each of the Summoning Contracts that held the Animal Demons in his thrall. Instead of binding them to follow him, he allowed them their peace far away until they were Summoned by this new jutsu he had devised.

After a while_, _the _Rikudou Sennin _grew restless even despite the monumental task and hand_,_ and he took to travelling once again. He visited the lands he sought to protect when he first embarked on his journey, and was pleased to note the previously scattered families now formed into villages, and life in general was much easier and happier as a result. Wishing to further the progress, he helped these villages enter agreements with each other while continuing to spread his knowledge of the newly-baptized _ninjutsu_ as well as liberally handing out Summoning Contracts to his more promising students wherever he went.

However, as he aged and his power waned, he slowly felt his control over the dreadful manuscript buried within his chest slip and the raging of the ten-tailed monster grow ever more agitated. He had no hope of defeating the monster if it were released even with the newfound knowledge: the difference in power between the two was simply too overwhelming. Therefore, the _Rikudou Sennin_ settled for the best alternative: as keeping the tenant within his body forever or to send it to its death by dying himself were both beyond his abilities, he would separate the twelve entities and destroy the original manuscript once this was done.

First, to prevent the possibility of instantaneous fusion of souls back into the body of the ten-tailed Beast, he compacted the gigantic body into a ball and hurled it as far away from the Earth as he could, thus creating the moon. The strain from even this preparation was such that the _Rikudou Sennin _had to rest before attempting the next step. Unfortunately, even after recuperating for an entire week, this task proved impossible: even though he was aware of the characteristics of each Demon's chakra pathways, he was unable to discern where each one was within the tangled tenketsus spread throughout his tenant's jumbled chakra pathways, and analyzing the agreement between the Twelve Clan Heads proved as futile, for the Twelve Clan Heads had forsaken their identities even before they sat down to write the merger scroll.

In the end, he managed to tear the ten-tail apart into the _Ichibi no Shukaku_ (one-tailed tanuki), the _Nibi no Bakeneko_ (two-tailed cat), the _Sanbi no Kyodaigame_ (three-tailed turtle), the _Yonbi no Saru_ (four-tailed monkey), the _Gobi no Irukauma_ (five-tailed dolphin-horse), the _Rokubi no Namekuji_ (six-tailed slug), the _Nanabi no Kabutomushi_ (seven-tailed horned beetle) and the _Hachibi no Kyogyuu_ (eight-tailed ox), but was unable to separate anything else without it promptly returning to the remaining mass of chakra. Thus, he left the _Kyuubi no Youko_ (nine-tailed fox) with the powerful _doujutsu _and with but a fraction less than a quarter of the _Juubi_'s chakra. Most of the resulting tailed animals were entirely new ones, and even the _Yonbi no Saru_ and the _Hachibi no Kyogyuu_ were quite different from the mischievous Monkey and determined Ox that were merged into the ten-tailed demon.

The efforts left him drained, and while his nine tenants were less powerful even collectively than the ten-tailed beast, he knew that he could not hold these new demons inside him for long. All his life he had labored for peace in the world, and now in his death he would strive toward the same goal. Thus, he first detailed in a tablet his plans to deal with the Nine Tailed Beasts, the _Bijuu_, and then he called forth his most promising students: a Hyuuga, a Senju and an Uchiha.

To the Hyuuga, he extracted his own _Byakugan_, and yielded to him the divine task of keeping harmony through diplomacy. To the Uchiha, he advised actively enforcing world peace through force, the metaphorical "stick" to the Hyuuga's "carrot". To help them with this task, he offered a fraction the powerful doujutsu of the _Kyuubi no Youko_'s eyes with all the supernatural abilities associated to it, even as the demon fox screamed itself hoarse. However, the _Rikudou Sennin_ was careful to keep the ability to transfer powers, as he still had one more gift planned. As a result, the Uchiha was left with a dormant _Sharingan_ while the _Rikudou Sennin_ kept the _Rinnegan_ which would have automatically activated the _Sharingan_. In his final act, the _Rikudou Sennin _gave his _Mokuton _powers to the Senju so that he may control the Nine Tailed Demons through their paper cores. His task done, the _Rikudou Sennin_ left this world when nine _Bijuu _burst his chest open, giving birth to nine demons made of pure chakra without physical bodies to contain them.

For centuries afterwards, the _Bijuu _roamed the earth, wreaking havoc much in the vein of the demons of old until the sacred word of the _Rikudou Sennin_ was lost in the flow of time. All of the _Bijuu_ were at one point defeated and except for the _Kyuubi_, all were sealed into humans to form _jinhuurikis_. However, no one knew of seals powerful enough to potentially hold the _Bijuu_ indefinitely, and breaking the vessel would invariably release the demon. Indeed, this was proven many times, and though many _jinchuuriki_ died, nine _Bijuu _still existed. It was rumored in hushed tones amongst Sealmasters the world over that whoever would seal the _Kyuubi_ would have found the formula to forever bind the _Bijuu_ and subjugate the world to the Sealmaster's will. As it was, no one could devise a seal strong enough to hold indefinitely, and no one was powerful enough or sufficiently clever to seal the _Kyuubi_. No one, that is, until the Yondaime Hokage thrust the _Kyuubi _into a screeching toddler named Naruto Uzumaki.

* * *

Please review! I particularly welcome constructive criticism, no matter how harsh. If you find mistakes, please also point them out. Hopefully, I'll manage to make fewer of them in time.

Update: It was brought to my attention that I have been negligent in my dealings with the Rinnegan and Byakugan. I've brought some modifications to reflect my interpretation of events. It's stated in Narutopedia that the Rinnegan of the Sage of Six Paths may or may not have originated from becoming a junchuuriki for the Ten-Tails. I'm going to assume that it had and that the Sage had the Byakugan and the Mokuton before that. On top of that, I'll also assume that the Rinnegan/Sharingan combination is powerful enough to transfer kekkei genkais to another person. So in short, in this story, the Sage had the Byakugan, and the Juubi had a mix of Rinnegan/Sharingan. When the Sage absorbed the Juubi, he gained all three doujutsus. Just before he died, he transferred the Byakugan to the Hyuuga, the Sharingan to the Uchiha and the Mokuton to the Senju.


	2. Ch1 The Alternative Academy Test

"So this is the Forbidden Scroll, huh? Now I've got to do is to learn one jutsu from here, and not even Iruka will be able to stop me from graduating."

Iruka had just this morning deemed Naruto's efforts insufficient to pass the Academy graduation test despite Mizuki's arguments to the contrary. As Mizuki underlined, Naruto did produce one sickly clone. However, even though Naruto had put all of his efforts and (non-pranking) time into learning that one jutsu, the _Bunshin no Jutsu _was still outside Naruto's skillset. Indeed, he was unable to conjure a single likeness of himself in front of his teachers, much less the minimum of three his graduating peers managed. As a result, Naruto had spent the rest of his lunch time sitting on the abandoned swing underneath the tree, a sharp contrast to the very image of motion he otherwise seemed to define. Every glance up only seemed to sink him deeper in his depression, as each look was met with a heated glare, revulsion barely kept behind curled lips and squinted eyes.

It was this scene that Mizuki expected, and it was upon this scene that he intruded to cheer up Naruto by providing an alternative path to graduation from the Academy: removing the Forbidden Scroll from the Hokage's Tower and learning one jutsu by sundown. Naruto didn't waste any time to get into the Hokage Tower using his hard-earned stealth, cultivated from necessity in order to complete pranks while wearing bright orange. Unfortunately, the Hokage had still detected his illicit presence in the restricted section. Naruto was thus forced to knock the Hokage out of commission using a well-timed _Oiroke no Jutsu_ before sneaking the Forbidden Scroll out of the Tower. Once back into safer territory, Naruto opened the scroll to the first technique and set himself to learn it, mumbling his thoughts out loud as per his custom.

"Let's see what's in here. The first one is _Fuuton: Boufuu no Mai_. Dance of the Windstorm? What does it do? Hmm… _Causes absolute destruction in a wide area via repeated shredding. Requires a deep chakra pool in order to generate the rotation and extreme chakra control for shape manipulation as well as an affinity for the Wind Element._"

At this, Naruto acquired a smirk that his unfortunate prank targets quickly learned to fear above all else. "Heh, _absolute_ destruction? Sure sounds cool. So let's see, to do this I need to…" Delving back into the scroll, Naruto resumed his reading. "_Mold chakra into Wind Element, and shred the wind continuously until volume starts increasing beyond user control._ I guess chakra would be that _chatora_ thing Mizuki was talking about when he gave me a detention for pranking him –and what a good prank it was, gluing his hand to his nose!– but what's wind element?" Scrunching his face while vainly trying to recall what he could on this elusive "wind element", he came to his standard conclusion when faced with unknown obstacles. "Bah, it's probably just some more of that useless stuff we were supposed to learn."

Naruto skimmed through several more paragraphs detailing the unusual method of chakra molding for this jutsu, utterly ignoring both the mention of pre-requisite mastery over the Wind element and the numerous warnings of dire consequences in case of the slightest slip in chakra control. Several minutes later, Naruto at long last reached the portion he sought. "Ah, there it is! Handseals: _Hitsuji, _huh? Half-_Ushi_ half-_Uma_? What the heck?"

Despite his short attention span, Naruto had listened very closely when Iruka explained the different handseals, especially after Iruka had exceptionally postponed punishment for the rather conspicuous prank Naruto had played due to the importance of the lecture. His ambitions of becoming the very best ninja in Konohagakure required extensive and exhaustive knowledge of jutsus, which would themselves necessitate an understanding of handseals. Furthermore, one could possibly gain an advantage by analyzing the enemy's jutsu even if one wasn't familiar with the particular sequence. Hence, Naruto had forced himself to pay rapt attention to the lecture on handseals while studiously ignoring the neon orange sign stuck to Iruka's behind for the rest of the day.

Naruto hadn't thought much of the incident until now, for he didn't find much use for the extraneous information until today. "Okay, let's just try it. So, where was I? Half-_Ushi_ half-_Uma_, _Hitsuji, Mi, Ne, U, Saru, Hitsuji, Tatsu, Ushi_,_ Mi, Ne, I, Uma, Hitsuji, Tatsu, _and the half-_Ushi_ half-_Uma_? Argh! No, it's half-_Uma_ half-_Ushi_. So where was I again?_ Tora _and what is this? Half-_Tatsu_ half-_Tori_? Two hybrid seals? And some other strange seal to finish. Alright, let's give this thingy here a try. Ram, half-Ox half-Horse, and… What was it again? Ram_, _Serpent, Rat, Hare, Monkey, Ram, Dragon, Ox, Serpent, Rat, … Why does it have to be so long? Boar, Horse, Ram, Dragon, half_-_Horse half_-_Ox, Ram, Tiger, and half-Dragon half-Rooster_, _strange seal. Funny how it looks a bit like the dragon. Hmm... Still not familiar enough. Once more, I guess."

Muttering in a barely audible whisper, Naruto tried to repeat the signs required without molding his chakra. "Ram, half-Ox half-Horse, Ram… Meh, what was it again?" Quickly consulting the scroll, he continued: "Serpent, Rat, Hare, Monkey, Ram, Dragon, Ox, Serpent, Rat, Boar, Horse, Ram, Dragon, half_-_Horse half-Ox, Ram, Tiger, and half-Dragon half-Rooster, unknown." Drawing in a breath, he repeated the odd sequence over and over, until he had a firm grasp on it, normal seals, hybrid seals and uncommon seals alike.

* * *

Alarms blared across the village, silent as the wind. The cause for this disturbance spread as fire in kindle among ANBU members, Jonin and Chunin even faster than gossip inside the rumor mill. One Forbidden Scroll and one infamous Academy student under the name of Uzumaki Naruto were both nowhere to be found. Assuming the worse, ninjas understood that the latter event was causally related to the first, and search parties were quickly sent on their way. The village thus saw an unusual number of ninjas running around, curiously resembling beheaded roaches still thrashing about. There was however one Chunin instructor at the Academy strolling through the forest in a straight line, quite unlike the other ninjas summoned by the Hokage, while another Academy instructor zigzagged at top speed between various places in the village.

Meanwhile, the Hokage sat down behind his desk, and activated a storage seal hidden beneath his desk. He retrieved a crystal ball created by the First Hokage, the very founder of Konoha. This was one of the secrets passed from one Hokage to the next: the crystal ball could be used to remotely view any part of the village the Hokage wished, though such use was reserved for emergencies. That this constituted an emergency was never in doubt by the Hokage, for he suspected something afoot far sinister than simple theft.

The Hokage was well aware that the _Kyuubi no Youko_ was sealed within Naruto. Though the Sandaime had encountered the _Kyuubi_ but once, the meeting was memorable enough that the Sandaime knew beyond any reasonable doubt that Naruto most certainly wasn not the _Kyuubi_. How this distinction somehow eluded many of his ninjas was a mystery that the Sandaime failed to elucidate. After all, would the _Kyuubi _glue one Academy instructor's hand to his nose rather than killing him in the most gruesome manner imaginable? The Hokage scoffed at the very notion of the _Kyuubi_ pulling the pranks Naruto did before once more collecting his thoughts. The _Kyuubi_ had thus far not affected Naruto's behavior, and the seal would prevent it from doing so in the future except in the most extreme of circumstances. It was fear of these very circumstances that compelled the Hokage to resort to unsealing the crystal ball from its secret compartment.

Contrary to what many ninjas believed, the Hokage had carefully noted each and every one Naruto's pranks, including his rather liberal use of the _Henge no Jutsu_. Because of his close scrutiny of Naruto's behavior, the Hokage also knew that this most recent transgression did not fit with his usual profile, as it was quite a more serious offence than Naruto usually committed. Despite what the ANBU may have thought upon arriving one day to their (newly painted) bright orange headquarters with their underwear displayed as curtains, Naruto meticulously avoided hurting anyone in each and every one of his pranks. He also never stole anything, even if the Hyuuga had bleated incessantly about the theft of a treasured scroll until they found it one month later within their clogged sewage system, safely wrapped in plastic amongst less desirable items.

Incidentally, this understanding of Naruto's _modus operandi_ had led the Sandaime to immediately discount any malign intent when knocking him out with that blasted _Oiroke no Jutsu_: it was most probably a ploy to get back at him for including a technique Naruto couldn't perform in the exam. Thus, when the absence of the Forbidden Scroll was noticed nearly an hour later, the Hokage was shocked and immediately surmised that something was amiss, somehting that eluded his grasp at the moment. Unfortunately, the most probable explanation would involve someone manipulating Naruto.

Manipulating Academy students for personal gain was despicable in and of itself. Whoever would manipulate any Academy student would be severely punished, but Naruto was not just any Academy student. He was also the container of the _Kyuubi_, and whoever was foolish enough to mess with the container of the _Kyuubi_ was dangerous enough to warrant one more use of the crystal, which could only be activated thrice by any one person's blood. With a sigh, the Hokage bit his thumb, and prepared to activate the crystal ball for the second time in his life.

* * *

"Kuso! Why won't it work?"

Naruto was rather irritated by his lack of success at performing the _Fuuton: Boufuu no Mai_. He was quite thoroughly cut and bruised, courtesy of his many failed attempts. This, he could endure with an easy smile. He had had extensive experience with such matter, after all, and knew the injuries were but temporary. Rather, the source of his ire was the pristine condition of his surroundings: the jutsu had failed to affect even a single blade of grass right beside him, not even after he kept his hands together throughout the entire sequence. Of course, Naruto did not know that for him to cut himself with the technique was already an astounding achievement, for he was unaware of the difficulties of elemental manipulation.

About half an hour earlier, or roughly ten minutes after he started trying the sequence, the lack of results prompted Naruto to refer back to the Forbidden Scroll. It was then that he noticed in the paragraphs he had previously disregarded that the handseals were meant to be done with the hands touching each other until the very last, unorthodox seal, which required them to separate. Yet even once the appropriate changes were implemented, Naruto still couldn't manage a _Fuuton: Boufuu no __Mai_. By now, a full hour had passed since he started reading the scroll. Naruto decided to act on his exasperation, trying the next jutsu on the scroll lest he run out of his allotted time to learn a jutsu. Returning back once more to the tree where he left the scroll, he unrolled it further to expose the second technique, _Kaze no Teisei_.

"Hmm… Whisper of the Wind. Let's see, _A long-range offensive Wind jutsu created by mixing Wind Element with sound and unleashing the attack at long-range without causing collateral damage along the path._ Wind as a weapon? Meh… What's it gonna do? Blow the enemy off-balance? That's lame! But if it's lame, it should be easy to learn. I guess I'll just have to try it, then." Returning his attention to the scroll, Naruto continued reading. "_Conversely, one variation converts sound into a wind-sound hybrid and allows the user to listen to conversations from far away by molding chakra differently. The stronger the affinity, the longer the distance._ That could be cool, I guess. Still wish I could do the _Boufou no Mai_, though. Oh well, can't be helped. 'Beggars can't be choosers' and stuff. Let's see how it's done."

Having heeded his lesson from his earlier attempts at learning a jutsu from a scroll, Naruto paid attention to relevant details from the introductory paragraphs. He was therefore sware that the Wind attacks of this jutsu could bend around obstacles, though he was thoroughly puzzled by the discussion on sound refraction. Naruto also read how this technique was forbidden due to severe injury and possible permanent auditory damage for any Wind users attempting the jutsu without sufficient experience. Naruto understood this dilemma, and pitied those with strong Wind affinities, as they wouldn't be able to learn this technique. The only alternative to being deaf was for those with strong Wind affinities to receive help from _Kaze no Teisei_ users, the latter dampening the technique to a more reasonable level until the user learned to control their chakra appropriately. Since Naruto was unaware of possessing any such bizarre trait as a "Wind affinity", he delved head-first into learning the technique.

"_Tori, Tora, Ne, Mi, …_"

* * *

Iruka cursed. Rather loudly, and using a language substantially more colorful than he would have allowed from anyone in the Academy. And then he cursed again.

"Damn that Naruto! What is he thinking of, leaving so many traps in his preferred training field? What if he forgets to remove one before his next session?"

There was no doubt in Iruka's mind that Naruto would still be free to practice tomorrow. Much as the Hokage had concluded, Iruka also suspected extenuating circumstances absolving Naruto from the otherwise serious charge of grand theft. Indeed, Iruka understood Naruto even better than the Hokage. As such, he was absolutely certain of an external influence on this situation, though he did not have enough data to infer the identity of the third party or even the motive it would have for manipulating Naruto. Iruka would make whoever did so pay dearly, regardless of their abilities. Not only would tainting an Academy student reflect badly on his or her record, to do so to _Naruto_ of all people was unforgivable, given his already unfortunate lot in life.

Because he considered Naruto as an adopted brother, Iruka knew of Naruto's favorite hideouts. Once the alarms were sent, Iruka immediately started methodically visiting each and every one of them. Unfortunately for him, Naruto was a master prankster, one who had left elaborate traps on every single site Iruka had searched thus far. As a result, Iruka now sported a missing pant leg on the left, a ghastly combination of orange, pink and purple paint on his right thigh, three bells super-glued to his Chunin vest, one honk sealed to his right hand, eight yellow match-heads implanted on his left shoulder, five crickets happily chirping atop his hair and one swollen lip due to a mousetrap. If he weren't quite so irritated, Iruka would have surely used his own status as an established pranksmaster to congratulate Naruto on the originality and sheer complexity of his traps.

However, Iruka was racing against time. Stepping into a mud pit, Iruka cursed once more before taking off to the tree, and right into a pungent pile of guano.

* * *

Mizuki was traveling without any haste. It should therefore have come as a surprise that he was currently trailing Iruka only by a slim margin, the latter rushing madly from one spot to another in a desperate bid to find Naruto. While no genius, Mizuki was certainly smart enough to deduce that Iruka knew of Naruto's innocence, and wished to confront Naruto in order to uncover the identity of the mastermind behind the Forbidden Scroll's theft before said mastermind could remove the scroll from the unfortunate Academy student. Too bad Iruka was doing such a bad job of avoiding Naruto's traps, though Mizuki could only be glad for the cannon fodder clearing his own path.

* * *

"Alright, so it's Rooster, Tiger, Rat, Serpent, Rat, Dragon, Rooster. Good thing it's shorter than the other weirdo sequence. Let's see the next step. _Collect your chakra after the first seal, and spread it around to feel the oscillating air pressure._ Argh! What's an oscillating air pressure? What the heck's oscillating mean?" Despite having learned that these qualitative descriptions are important, Naruto decided to defer to his standard response when faced with anything beyond his realm of knowledge: pretend its absence and observe the results to reverse-engineer the original text into something comprehensible. "Hmph. Whatever. Probably isn't important anyway. So, let's see, _collect your chakra, spread it around,_ (Ah! There it is!) _Once your chakra is dispersed _–hey! I know that word! – _through the environment immediately surrounding you, perform the handseals with as little movement as possible. Even though the field perimeters must be set in the very first handseal, the jutsu will be performed only after the last handseal is made. Once again, Wind users **must** beware of the possible backlash and avoid learning this jutsu._ Heh! Good thing I just confirmed with the _Fuuton: Boufuu no Mai _I'm no wind-guy. Let's give this a try."

Naruto carefully spread his chakra from the initial Rooster seal into the air around him and let it drift along until it thinned out. He then proceeded to finish the seals with minimal movement, as per the instructions. Unfortunately, Naruto's failure to perform the _Fuuton: Boufuu no Mai_ was by no means proof he did not have a Wind Element affinity, as he lacked the control necessary to hold the technique rather than the affinity. In reality, he was aligned very strongly to Wind, and despite both a complete lack of chakra control and inaccurate performance of the technique, the sonic feedback was forceful enough to pierce both his eardrums and ossicles. However, even after causing this much damage, the pressure was still high enough to force open the Eustachian tube as well as disrupt his inner ear before slicing off to parts unknownm wild and uncontrolled.

Overcome by blinding pain, Naruto dropped the technique and immediately clapped his hands over his ears. As a result of his inner ear injuries, he lost balance, and fell down before curling into a fetal position. Naruto didn't notice that he was screaming at the top of his lungs: he couldn't hear it. All he noticed was a distant drip-drip-drip ringing deep inside his mind.

* * *

The Hokage finally finished inscribing the intricate seals required to activate the crystal ball. He took a deep breath of air and, with noticeable trepidation, pushed his palm against the smooth surface of the ball. After a moment, the sphere accepted both his blood and his chakra, and all of the elaborate script written on the surface was absorbed until it was once more devoid of any markings. Thus started his second usage of the crystal ball.

Sweating slightly from the intense concentration, he forced a view of the Academy into the crystal ball. If stealing the Forbidden Scroll were meant as a prank, then surely the Academy would also be targeted. After a while, the Hokage concluded that the Academy was indeed free of Naruto's infamous machinations. Though it was as he suspected, the Hokage couldn't prevent a frown from marring his face. It seems he would have to look underneath the underneath, after all.

* * *

By now, Iruka had abandoned any hope he might have entertained at finding Naruto with his clothes relatively intact. Simply ignoring the childish traps that sprung at nearly every step, Iruka forced his way across a playground just beyond the Academy's borders, one that was just a tad too old and decrepit for the general populace yet still intact enough that Naruto needn't fear collapsing objects. It was here Iruka had found Naruto after his very first prank on Mizuki, one which involved dumping oil-based paint on cloth worn just outside of Mizuki's gluteus maximus. It was also here Iruka found a connection to Naruto when he saw the forlorn expression on Naruto's face, one so diametrically opposed to his pre-formed profile on Naruto's character that he was forced to re-assess his view of the boy. And though Iruka could see neither Naruto nor any recent signs of his presence, something still compelled Iruka to linger just a tad longer. As he was about to leave, he stepped on a bench that immediately fell down on itself in two neat sections, cleanly split in the middle.

"_Fuuton_? But twho could possibly use _Fuuton_ here, in a public area?"

Shaking his head at his own lack of focus, Iruka left yet another playground, the search for Naruto still unfinished.

* * *

By now, Naruto had recovered enough that he had stopped screaming and had even taken the challenge of standing up. Though still somewhat wobbly, he hadn't forgotten the time limit, and so had walked on wobbly legs towards the scroll. That his injuries may be too severe for his miraculous healing to overcome had never crossed his mind, nor did he wonder whether a deaf person would be denied graduation. His thoughts were now entirely focused on a single task: mastering a jutsu from the scroll. Once he was close enough to the manuscript, he sat down with a sigh of relief and unfurled the scroll to reveal the next jutsu.

To his dismay, the third technique listed was a _Bunshin_. To be more precise, it was the _Tajuu __Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_. Yet once he started reading the details preceding the handseals, his enthusiasm started growing at an alarming rate. _This_ was what he needed: a jutsu where he could simply unleash his considerable chakra reserves, where he could stop worrying about how much chakra to send outside his body and where, most importantly, very few handseals (and simple ones at that!) were required. On top of that, the technique was also very well suited to Naruto's pranking habits: he could send a clone anywhere to cause mayhem, while he himself stayed somewhere else for a perfect alibi. In combat, multiplying the number of participants in one's favor was also a tremendous advantage for Naruto, especially since he seemed to lose quite often in _taijutsu_ matches. Armed with renewed enthusiasm, Naruto stood up to start learning this technique. Fifteen minutes later, he flopped down into a boneless heap, satisfied at finally mastering a useful technique from the scroll.

Naruto was oblivious to the possibility of more useful jutsu inside the scroll, just as he failed to notice the significance of regaining his equilibrium. After all, instead of learning about the human ear, he had spent his time painting the Hokage Monument.

* * *

The Hokage was by no means slow-witted. After all, anyone who could master as many jutsu as he did could not possibly be accused intellectual deficiency, and combined with his lack of _kekkei_ _genkai_, one had to conclude that the Hokage was quite the genius. As such, one may perhaps assume that with a tool as powerful as the crystal ball, the Hokage would be able to find Naruto readily. After all, how hard could it be to find someone wearing a bright orange jumpsuit and possessing wild, blond hair?

However, it still took the Sandaime quite a while to locate Naruto. Whereas Iruka had finally deduced Naruto's location by elimination of all other possible hideouts and Mizuki left the task of locating Naruto to Iruka, the Hokage had no such information available. As such, he carefully viewed various places frequently visited by children before finally stumbling upon the sight of Naruto resting against a shack near the outskirts of the Academy. Many details caused the Hokage to frown: the dried blood barely visible in Naruto's ear, the unnatural stillness of the boy, his shredded clothing, as well as the open Forbidden Scroll lying just outside his reach. Unfortunately, the events which would come up would be just as nerve-wracking.

* * *

"Naruto!" yelled Iruka, ostensibly annoyed by the innumerable traps he had sprung during his search for the Academy's loudest student.

By now, Naruto had completely forgotten his previous deafness, and so was not at all surprised when he could hear Iruka clearly, if a bit softer than he normally would. "Hey, Iruka! I learned a jutsu from the scroll, so if I show it to you, I can graduate, right? Just like Mizuki said?"

"Mizuki? He said that?" Iruka's unchecked shock should have been sufficient to conclude that this was not standard procedure. However, Naruto was nothing if not oblivious.

"Yeah, he said that you want me to be truly strong, so you want me to learn all of the techniques before I can graduate, which is why you didn't tell me about this scroll. I get it, so I'm not blaming you, but I really, really want to start working as a ninja so I can become Hokage so…"

Iruka knew as one of the immutable laws of the universe that when Naruto started babbling, it would be at least half an hour before he took a breath. Therefore, quite unlike his normal behavior, Iruka opted to interrupt in mid-sentence.

"Yes I want you to be strong, but…" Sensing an object moving rapidly towards Naruto, Iruka pushed the latter to the ground. Unfortunately, this action placed his back right onto the trajectory of the airborne weapon, and a solid _thunk_ followed faster than an eye blink right before Mizuki removed his _Henge_ to show himself perched comfortably atop a branch.

"Naruto, gimme the scroll."

Mizuki's tone brooked no argument, yet Naruto was loathe to comply. After all, Mizuki had just hurt one of the precious few people who truly cared about him. Therefore, summoning all of his maturity, he replied: "Hey! What's going on, here?"

Mizuki took a breath, preparing himself to further deceive Naruto with a web of lies. Before he could do so, however, Iruka had correctly identified the true perpetrator of the crime, and interjected: "Naruto, do **not** let him gain possession of the Forbidden Scroll, no matter what. I want you to leave here immediately."

Mizuki, however, would not be so easily discouraged. "Iruka is just afraid of you possessing the Forbidden Scroll. It contains powerful jutsus, and Iruka doesn't want you to progress. After all, he hates you, just like everyone else."

By now, Iruka was frantic. As a Chunin, he was quite used to analyzing situations as they appeared and could already guess what Mizuki intended to reveal. "Naruto, don't listen to anything he says; just go to see the Hokage and I'll meet you later."

Unfortunately, this proved to be too much information for Naruto, for he answered: "Huh?"

"I'll tell you a secret, a secret so powerful that the Hokage prevented anyone from saying it."

Now certain that his analysis would be proven correct, Iruka shouted: "STOP!"

In response, Mizuki simply laughed, an evil cackle that sent shivers down Iruka's spine. Naruto, on the other hand, was captivated by the scene unfolding right before him, much as one often morbidly observes accidents happen in slow motion. "What?"

"A rule was created to cover up an event from twelve years ago, an event that explains why everyone, from the Hokage to Iruka to every single civilian, hates you."

Entranced by Mizuki's words, Naruto couldn't help himself. "A rule?"

"It's a rule about the demon fox."

Iruka had been slowly inching his hand toward the knife hidden in his boots, but now he feared he was too cautious. In a desperate bid to stop the events before the point of no return, he shouted: "Mizuki, stop!"

Mizuki simply ignored Iruka. "It's a rule forbidding anyone from telling what you are: a monster fox."

"What?"

Mizuki tackled the secret from another angle once he noticed how slowly Naruto was processing the information. "You are the demon fox who attacked our village twelve years ago; you are the one who killed Iruka's parents, the Yondaime Hokage and the Sandaime Hokage's son."

Something still seemed wrong to Naruto. "But, Asuma is still alive, isn't he? So how could that have happened?"

Finally losing all patience, Mizuki couldn't help himself. "BAKA! His OTHER son, not Asuma. What I'm telling you is why everyone hates you, even those like the Hokage and Iruka and the traitors who give you ramen who PRETEND to accept you. They actually hate you in reality, they just pretend so that they can play with you and then betray you. What I'm saying is that you are the _Kyuubi no Kitsune!_"

All the years of repressed depression, all the years of bearing the scorn and loathing of the entire village for twelve long years, all the years of smiling and pretending that nothing could be better; all of those years pent up inside him finally snapped him when he considered the very possibility of Iruka, the Hokage and the Ichirakus hating him as well, for that would leave him truly and utterly alone. Sobbing, he clutched the Forbidden Scroll close to his chest and flew off, away from the traumatic scene he had just partaken in, unknowingly saving himself from another projectile as Mizuki yelled: "DIE!"

Even though his target had fled to parts unknown, Mizuki threw back his head and roared with mirth. "What will you do now, Iruka? After all, Naruto isn't the type who will change his mind, and he's decided to take out the village."

"Mizuki, you traitorous scum! Naruto isn't the type to do that, he won't do it."

"Ah, but he will. Of course he will. You saw his face, his eyes, didn't you? He has become the demon fox once again. How unfortunate for him that he doesn't have the power of the fox to back him up."

All this time, Iruka had been resisting the temptation to remove the _Fuuma shuriken_ from his back, as it would lead to increased bleeding. However, if he were to protect Naruto from Mizuki, having such a large and heavy object implanted in his back would decrease his mobility too much. With that in mind, he threw the knife he had secretly retrieved, forcing Mizuki to duck while he took out the offending _Fuuma shuriken_ before throwing that to Mizuki as well. Taking advantage of the distraction, Iruka leapt away in the direction Naruto had taken, gaining a sizable head start before Mizuki joined the race.

* * *

Feeling every one of his nearly seventy years bearing down mercilessly upon him, the Hokage sighed as he watched the events unfolding in his crystal ball. He was very disappointed with himself: how could he have possibly assigned such a monster to the important position of educating Konoha's future ninjas? He had thoroughly screened all of the applicants, and those deemed worthy potentials were interviewed individually by the Sandaime himself. It was obvious that he had missed the black seed residing within Mizuki, as the crystal ball had just shown him. One had to have no compassion if one were to mislead Academy students so ruthlessly. Yet that was one of the traits that the Hokage had stressed during the interview.

Still, the events could have been worse, much worse than even Mizuki had imagined. The shock of learning about the _Kyuubi_ could have driven Naruto into dementia, or to such an enraged state that he could have unintentionally ripped the Yondaime's seal off the cage. The thought of such a situation was dreadful enough that the Sandaime was unable to suppress his shudders.

Now, all he could do was trust Iruka's devotion to the boy would bring him back, as well as Naruto's own inner strength being strong enough to resist the dark influences thrust upon him. After all, he had borne the contempt of the village for twelve years with a smile. If the Hokage had to bet on anyone surviving this ordeal, it would be Naruto.

* * *

Naruto was still fleeing through the forest in a doomed attempt to pretend everything was alright when he heard two people approaching him from behind. Ninjas, if the speed were any indication. Quickly deciding on the best course of action, he hid himself among the bushes, and applied a _Henge_ for good measure. After all, if the method worked so well for Mizuki, it should allow him some reprieve from his pursuers.

As it was, he almost started when he saw himself being chased by Iruka, but instead merely rustled some neighboring leaves. He was lucky to have applied the _Henge_, for both ninja briefly looked at his position before deciding to ignore him.

"Naruto! Mizuki was lying; I really do care about you. But he wants the scroll, so for now you should give it to me. I can protect it better than you can."

In response, Naruto saw himself suddenly whirl around and bump roughly into Iruka before both ninjas dropped back down onto the forest floor.

Flabbergasted, Iruka stammered as he dropped the _Henge_, revealing himself to be Mizuki. "How did you know it was me, Naruto?"

Naruto saw his doppelganger laugh before dropping his _Henge_. "Because I'm not Naruto," answered Iruka.

Mizuki paused to contemplate his situation, and decided to sway Iruka over to his cause. "Why the hell are you protecting Naruto? He killed your parents, and now that he has the scroll, he'll learn all of its secrets so that he can kill the village, including you. There's no way a monster like that demon fox could resist so much power."

Iruka replied, so softly that Naruto had to strain his ears from his position fifty meters away. "You're right. Of course a monster would do that, and kill every single person here."

From the bushes, Naruto was crestfallen. One of the select people he had looked up to turned out to truly misunderstand him, despite the strong bond he had felt between himself and Iruka. Deciding that there was nothing left for him in this village if even Iruka didn't believe in him, Naruto was ready to flee once more, this time towards the Gates of Konoha. However, Iruka's voice, this time speaking louder, staid his course.

"But Naruto is not the demon fox, and he is definitely not a monster. God knows he has more than enough reasons to be one, with ignorant idiots like you pestering him for no reason, but he isn't one. So while a monster would indeed learn everything from the scroll and destroy the village, Naruto isn't one and thus won't lower himself to that level. He may be clumsy and may take more time than most to grasp basic concepts, but he's hardworking and doesn't give up in the face of adversity, even if no one recognizes him. And isn't that enough to earn him respect? For me, that's certainly enough to call him an excellent student. More than that, it's more than enough for me to call him Uzumaki Naruto, and not demon fox."

Iruka had been bleeding profusely as soon as he removed the _Fuuma shuriken_, and the combination of a _Henge_ on top of the mad dash across uneven terrain only worsened his condition. He could not go much longer, and had decided to gamble whatever was left of his life on appealing to Mizuki's humanity in one last attempt to save his favorite student. However, even that had failed, as proven when Mizuki was enraged by Iruka's unwillingness to condemn Naruto.

"You fool! You really think he's just an Academy student? Tell me, what student would glue a respected sensei's hands to his nose? Or dump paint onto another teacher's hair? Or deface the Hokage Monument, the object most deserving of respect in this village? He doesn't know what respect is, and doesn't care what others think of him. You call him hardworking, I call him a slacker. A stupid slacker, in fact, who doesn't deserve anyone's pity, much less the respect you just showed him. In fact, if he were here, he'd probably laugh at you for falling into yet another one of his trap. He's a monster, I tell you, and it's a good thing I sent him out in detention so often, or he would have learned about chakra and been able to perform the _Bunshin no Jutsu_. Heh, maybe not even then, but at least have some measly bit of control over his chakra."

Inside the Hokage Tower, the Sandaime's frown grew darker and darker as Mizuki gleefully dug his own grave deeper and deeper. It seems none of them were aware of Naruto's presence, which might be for the best, since the Sandaime could see Naruto now viewing Iruka in a new light. It seems that, in his efforts to gain recognition and, ultimately, respect, Naruto had overlooked his impact upon those who accepted him. This was just as well, the Sandaime reflected with a snort, as his ego might inflate to a disproportionate size if he were to know.

Turning his attention back to the situation, the Hokage once again cursed his own foolishness at allowing Mizuki access to gullible Academy students and thereby allow the Chunin to willfully sabotage their education, stunting the future prospects of his own villagers before their careers even began. The Hokage hoped fervently that Naruto's trust in the Sandaime, a trust earned by consistent behavior and extreme tolerance to nicknames, would stay intact throughout this debacle. If things went as the Hokage predicted, Naruto would have at least learned the valuable principle of looking "underneath the underneath", as Kakashi was prone to phrase it. Then again, this was Naruto Uzumaki. If anyone could make it out intact withoutidentifying the object lesson, Naruto would be the prime candidate.

"You… you scum! You traitor! You traitorous scum! How dare you undermine my student's education? No wonder Naruto had so many problems with chakra control: he never learned it! And to think I blamed him for not understanding much of what I taught. You… you…" Iruka was quite understandably livid beyond words. He knew that with the tremendous blood loss he suffered, he should avoid excess emotional excitation, and was well aware of how the flow of blood once again increased as he yelled at the traitor. Yet he simply couldn't help himself.

Mizuki, for his part, simply smirked as he watched Iruka tear himself up over misplaced blame on Naruto's intellect. "So tell me, did you really think Naruto was that stupid? Of course, he's below average, but did you really believe that he would be so incompetent as to not know what chakra is? Didn't you ever think it strange that he wouldn't know how to pronounce chakra? Hmm? Tsk, tsk, Iruka! And to think that you were the one with the best academic scores of our class; how far you've fallen if you couldn't even work that out!"

To his credit, Iruka did often wonder why Naruto seemed to simply misunderstand what chakra was. He had wondered whether it was a short attention span, as he'd often witnessed during the History lectures. That theory was disproved when he saw Naruto avidly learning about handseals. Clearly, Naruto could sit still if it related directly to improving his skills. Iruka had also briefly considered whether Mizuki might be biased against Naruto, much as he himself was before a meaningful talk with the Hokage, yet he couldn't believe his former classmate would be capable of such action. As a result, he had blamed what seemed as the most probable source for Naruto's misguided education: his well-documented tendency to perform elaborate and well-planned pranks.

Naruto, who had also listened to Mizuki's words, was also furious, though for a different reason. He had always assumed that Mizuki was fair in his treatment, since he also punished others who disturbed the class. Yet none of the others had gone to the extremes as he had during his pranks, and so he had blindly trusted his superior when he accepted the punishments.

Mizuki's infuriatingly self-assured snort brought both Iruka and Naruto back to the present. "Sure, Naruto is a really bad ninja. He may be able to perform pranks with stealth, but who in their right mind would engage in stealth exercises wearing orange? Only an idiot, that's who. And idiot describes Naruto perfectly, don't you agree? Of course, I have also tampered with his test results now and then, but they're so bad that I usually don't bother: he messes up by himself! And all I had to do to make push him out of class every time anything's out of place, and to make sure his _taijutsu_ is the worst of the class I just had to avoid laughing out loud during practice." A derisive laugh, oh so similar in tone to the careless disregard Naruto encountered on a daily basis, accompanied this statement. "Well, I have to admit, you were amusing enough. A ninja is supposed to hide his emotions, yet here you are displaying yours all too clearly. But I've had enough. Time to end this." With that declaration, Mizuki reached for the kunai in one of the pockets behind his back, and slowly, deliberately cocked his hand back, and launched the kunai.

The very kunai that stopped moving barely an inch from his hand. The kunai that was held by someone's hand. As Mizuki slowly travelled his gaze back to the owner of said hand, he felt a deep sense of foreboding, for only one person would willingly wear bright orange. And that person was a certain Uzumaki Naruto who he had so casually dismissed but a few seconds ago. However, what scared Mizuki was not that Naruto had managed to catch a kunai in mid-flight mere moments after its launch, right when velocity would be the highest, but that Naruto was shaking with barely-restrained fury. Always, whatever was thrown at him, always Naruto kept a smile ready, if only to mask other emotions. The one time he'd seen it falter had been when Mizuki had revealed the _Kyuubi_'s fate, and even then, Naruto wasn't angry. He had been confused, depressed, and perhaps felt betrayed, but he had not been angry regardless of what Mizuki had intimated to Iruka.

Now, however, Naruto was consumed with righteous anger, and his will to succeed despite the odds showed clearly, a will that sent chills down Mizuki's spine. Indeed, with this determination, Naruto's chakra was instinctively focused, and with as much chakra as he had to his disposal, such an enemy was not one easily trifled with. For Mizuki with his meager chakra reserve, pitiful even in comparison with Iruka's, the small killing intent released by Naruto easily dwarfed his entire pool, and in an attempt to regain whatever advantage he previously held, he resorted to the psychological needling which earned him his Chunin rank.

Shaking his head, Mizuki confronted Naruto with false bravado. "So the idiot comes out. How… appropriately idiotic. You should have run away when you could instead of dying here, and let Iruka's death grant you a few more moments of life. Such a waste!"

"Shut up, teme! Who asked you? You're just a bully. You call me stupid, but you're not much better. I was there the whole time, so you must be a bad ninja if you didn't know I was there. After all, I'm wearing bright orange, aren't I? And it's even bright orange in the field. So if I'm stupid for wearing bright orange in the field, what are you if you say it's not stealthy and you can't detect it?"

Mizuki had meant to destabilize Naruto, since doing so would damage his focus and, theoretically, revert his chakra back to its unfocused state. Yet by the end of Naruto's little rant, it was Mizuki who lost sight of his goal. Which, really, was quite understandable since he had never before been berated by a child. As such, he conveniently forgot his inhibitions, and the threat of Naruto's chakra pool.

"You gaki! You'll pay for that!" Mizuki cried as he launched himself kunai-first at Naruto. A short scuffle ensued, one in which Mizuki had no trouble gaining the advantage. After seeing a particularly wide opening, he stepped in, and heaved Naruto over to send him crashing into a tree on the other side of the clearing. "You're nothing! Nothing at all! After all, did you forget who taught you your _taijutsu_, and how bad you are at it?"

Instead of losing his focus at this latest taunt, or even expressing his anger as he did the first time, Naruto simply smiled. "Heh. You just made your mistake. _Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_"

* * *

Whereas the Hokage had been surprised by Naruto's fierce protectiveness over Iruka and elated to see Naruto's reported imbecility quickly disproved, he was now baffled. Even with the extra chakra that he would have obtained by simply keeping the _Kyuubi _jailed, no mere Academy should have enough chakra to execute this technique, let alone learn it within a mere two hours. Yet the results were clear: Naruto had managed to completely drown the entire clearing (and beyond!) in a sea of orange cloth and blond hair.

* * *

Iruka was astounded. Was this really Naruto, who could never remember the five great Hidden Villages? Could Naruto, whose _Bunshin no Jutsu_ was mediocre to the point of becoming a legend within the Academy, have possibly just created an entire army by himself of… well, himself? If so, then Iruka was willing to attend remedial training for the post of Academy Instructor. After all, this was quite literally a legend in the making, a legend quite unlike that of the sickly _Bunshin no Jutsu_.

Instead, this legend would speak of a Genin who, with nearly no discernible form or grace, still managed to overwhelm a Chunin, an Academy Instructor with a seemingly insurmountable gap in _taijutsu_ skills. Obviously, Mizuki would not submit quite so readily, especially to the dead-last of the Academy, the only one in recorded history to have failed the Konoha Academy graduation exam thrice. Yet in the middle of the rapidly expanding discharge-generated cloud, Mizuki was slowly but surely being defeated. His _taijutsu_ skill was without doubt superior to that of Naruto's, as were his speed and chakra control, yet Naruto managed to gain the upper hand with sheer stamina. Iruka resolved to suggest a harsher regime for stamina training in the future, given the immense advantage afforded by increased chakra pools. Neither the Hokage, Iruka nor Mizuki noticed that the characteristic "poofs" of Naruto's clones were significantly more voluminous than a normal _Kage Bunshin_'s, and neither observed how slight lacerations on Mizuki's arms were induced.

* * *

Soon enough, Naruto subdued the traitorous ninja, subdued and bound him tightly with ninja-proof wire. Mizuki's hands were still close together enough that he could perform the _Nawanuke no Jutsu_, as Naruto never learned that ninjas were better tied with both hands to the sides. Mizuki was fortunately unconscious to take advantage of the security hole. Iruka, on the other hand, was cognisant enough to recognize the threat. As Iruka started standing up with the intention of teaching Naruto about proper protocol for binding ninjas, his vision swam, and he felt the ground rush up to his head.

* * *

The Hokage cursed rather colorfully when he saw Iruka fall down. He had expected his Chunin Academy Instructor to know his capabilities, and Iruka had shown no sign that his injuries were approaching his limits, much less crossed over into a life-endangering ones. Then again, perhaps the Hokage was simply too absorbed with observing Naruto, and hadn't seen the subtle signs that not even Jonins could hide from the venerable Sandaime Hokage, much less Chunins.

Fortunately, the ninja he had sent outside in search of Naruto should now be back from their query and ready to help a fellow Konoha ninja, whether or not the ninja was currently assigned to active duty. Temporarily hiding his crystal ball with a minor _genjutsu_, the Hokage barked an order to his Chunin guards. Promptly thereafter, the assembled ninjas were told of the location of Iruka, Naruto and Mizuki. Two ninjas went to transport Iruka to the hospital (with the explicit instruction to let Naruto tag along without any question or comment), and two more ninjas were assigned to properly securing Mizuki. The immediate threats taken care of, the Hokage returned his attention to observe Naruto through his crystal ball.

* * *

Naruto was petrified by the thought of Iruka dying here and now, after his vehement defense of Naruto's character. There were too many regrets left: Naruto's readiness to believe Mizuki's lies when he should have known better, Iruka's self-chastisement for purportedly failing Naruto, and even the free meal at Ichiraku's that Iruka had promised Naruto earlier in the day. How long ago that seemed, and how simple Naruto's life was back then! Naruto had still been ignorant of the _Kyuubi,_ and hadn't felt the back-stabbing of Mizuki. Yet for all his desperate pleas, it seemed that he would still lose Iruka, the only one he could truly call a friend.

Lost in his self-pity, Naruto failed to notice the arrival of the ninjas. He followed the ninjas in his shocked state as they transported Iruka and stayed uncharacteristically introspective until Iruka startled him by clearing his throat. Taking in his surroundings, Naruto was surprised to find himself in a hospital room. Even more puzzling, there was no staff hovering about, waiting to discharge him in order to free up "invaluable hospital space" regardless of his condition –yet another mystery that Mizuki had unwittingly cleared for him. Returning his attention to Iruka, Naruto noticed that Iruka now looked much healthier.

"Naruto, please close your eyes."

"Huh?"

Resisting the urge to snort, Iruka simply repeated his request. "Please close your eyes for a moment, Naruto." Seeing his student's hesitation, he added: "Don't worry; I'll still be here when you open your eyes. My condition is no longer critical."

"Wha- Oh. Sure."

Though he was still baffled, Naruto complied nevertheless. As he did so, he felt Iruka removing his goggles, and place something else instead on his forehead. Something warm that fit snugly. "You can open your eyes now. Congratulations on graduating from the Academy, Naruto."

It took a while for Naruto to process this new information, but once he did, his response was exactly as expected: "Yatta!"

Just as Naruto was about to start bouncing off the walls in his excitement that the Hokage entered. "Hey, ojiisan, did you hear that? I graduated!"

Despite his weariness, the Hokage couldn't help smiling at Naruto's exuberance, and replied in the dignified manner required of his station. "Yes, Naruto: unorthodox as it may be, I was aware of your graduation." Long since used to deciphering the Hokage's formal speech patterns, Naruto was about to defend the unusual circumstances leading to his situation, but the Hokage interrupted his tirade before it even started. "Because Mizuki sabotaged your Academy lessons, your grades cannot possibly be an accurate reflection of your true abilities. Therefore, we have no means of determining your current level. As it is, our _incorrect_ information places you as the last-ranking student of your class."

The Hokage had taken steps to ensure that Naruto understood he was not blamed for his rather abysmal grades. However, despite phrasing the same message in four different ways prior to announcing Naruto's temporary ranking, the blond still sputtered indignantly.

"What do you mean, last-ranking? Mizuki-teme said it himself, he pushed me out of class for no reason and …"

"I know, I know. You are not to blame for your ranking; you're much more competent than that. We all know it now, the problem is that we don't know _how_ much more competent you are." The Hokage paused for a moment, letting the information congeal in Naruto's mind before plowing on. "So you now have a choice: you could take some remedial classes before you serve active duty…"

"What? But I'm now a ninja, Iruka said so. Didn't you, Iruka?"

Iruka saw the Hokage slowly but surely losing his patience. He quickly intervened before the situation degenerated out of control. "Yes, I did. You have graduated from the Academy, and the Hokage also agrees that you've passed the test. Just listen to everything he says and don't interrupt, alright?"

Deflated, Naruto looked down to his shoes when he answered: "Oh. Right. Sorry, jijii."

"Right. As I was saying, you could do that and get a ranking before we place the teams, but that would mean that your entire class –every single person who have graduated with you–would then have to wait for you before they're placed on a team. It would also mean that you would have to take an exam to show us your ranking, even though you've already graduated." At this point, the Hokage fixed Naruto with a stare, leading to a stillborn protest from Naruto. Being familiar with Naruto's attention span, the Hokage was certain that an outburst was also likely as he explained the other option he could offer Naruto. "Alternatively, you could pretend that your ranking is acceptable, even though you are capable of more than that. If you choose to do this, you would then be working as a ninja, while taking remedial classes if you so desire. I know that neither option is particularly palatable, but you've suffered enough as it is. I want you to have the choice for this."

Naruto scrunched up in thought. "You said that everyone'd have to wait for me if I want a ranking?"

"Naruto! That's what he just said!" Iruka was embarrassed, as Naruto was his student.

"That's quite alright, Iruka. Yes, everyone's placement on a team would be delayed. I had initially thought that maybe Mizuki undermined other people as well, but it seems that you were the only one."

"Oh. I'll just take the second option, then," Naruto replied sagely, surprising the Hokage with the suddenly mature look on his face. The Hokage understood that would this would cost Naruto: not many of his colleagues would extend the same courtesy if their own rankings were at stake. However, Naruto's expression shifted to its usual mischievous grin. "It'd mean I won't have to take the exams again!" Burying his head in his hand, the Hokage could only bemoan the unsurprising swiftness with which Naruto destroyed his newfound maturity.

* * *

Later, inside the Hokage Tower, the Sandaime, the Jonin senseis and Iruka discussed the team compositions late into the night, shuffling and reshuffling the genin hopefuls. Who knew one extra ninja would affect balance so? In the other side of town, Naruto slept peacefully, thoroughly tired by the events of the day. First attempting two different S-rank elemental jutsus and sustaining serious injury from one of them, then later abusing himself to defeat a Chunin (a weak one, but still one who passed the Chunin Exams), it was clear that not even Naruto's pool would be large enough to sustain him much longer.

In their haste to either rearrange the genin teams or to regain sleep, no one advised the Hokage about the other two techniques Naruto had attempted, nor of the temporary deafness induced by the _Kaze no Teisei_. In their haste, no one had bothered to check on the _Kyuubi _itself. If they did, they would have found a gleeful demon reviewing the techniques Naruto had failed to master, cackling as it thought of all the mayhem it could do once the tiny scratch marks on its cage had become large enough holes for it to escape confinement. Deep within Naruto's stomach a malicious chuckle rippled through his chakra. "Perhaps we did have the right idea with _ninjutsu_, after all."


	3. Ch2 Remedial Training and Team Seven

"What do you mean, I have to redo it? That was hard to do, and I even had to look things up. You know, I just spent an hour making that up!"

The Hokage sighed. This would obviously be a long day. This morning, he had sent for Naruto to inform him the picture required for his ninja registration form, since he didn't have his taken right after graduation compliments of the unconventional circumstances of yesterday. Unfortunately, Naruto's proclivity towards practical jokes reared its head once more and the Hokage was presented with an "artistically" decorated picture of Naruto on his form. Taking a deep breath, the Hokage tried to appeal once more to Naruto before making it an order.

"Naruto, now that you have graduated from the Academy, you're considered an adult, a ninja of Konohagakure. You will be saddled with responsibilities, and you will be expected to carry them out as flawlessly as possible. Sometimes, you will have hard choices to make, and once you make them, you'll have to commit yourself. More importantly, the lives of others may also be affected by these decisions, and sometimes others may even have to depend on you. Do you think they would willingly follow you if you continue with your pranks?"

"You mean I can't do pranks anymore if I want people to trust me?"

"That is one of the choices you'll have to make. There are situations where pranks are acceptable, but that will be the exception rather than the rule. Every time you want to perform a practical joke, you must first consider all aspects of the prank: Who is your target, and is the target likely to understand the prank? Who else would be affected? Would the prank result in serious injury in case something goes wrong? What are the consequences of your pranks? Are the consequences, all of them, within reason, and are they worth the effort and material? In the case of your photo, the consequences would be that _no one_ would ever take you seriously. Is this acceptable? Would you be content to let others lead you in the field simply because they don't trust you, courtesy of this photo?"

Naruto looked deep in thought for a second, yet when Naruto broke out into a huge grin, the Hokage narrowly missed wailing in despair. Would there be no way to get the message through to Naruto?

"Wow, you sure know a lot! Thanks, jijii; I'll remember that in the future!" Or perhaps he did finally manage to break Naruto from his pranking streak. "I guess that means I'll have to take another picture, though. And I guess that also means I shouldn't sleep so much in my remedial classes. Say, jijii, when are those gonna start?"

"I have thought of someone who may help you, but I have yet to request his help. I'll inform you as soon as I find someone suitable."

Just as the Hokage finished speaking, the footsteps of one stampeding down the hallway could be heard –and felt– from inside Hokage's office. The Sandaime sighed and hung his forehead on laced fingers, clearly expecting an unpleasant encounter. Soon enough, the vibrations grew and the door flew open to reveal a pint-sized boy with an excessively long scarf wrapped around numerous times his neck and still fell down to trail on the ground behind the boy. After spouting an obviously rehearsed spiel about become the Godaime Hokage, the boy ran toward the Hokage brandishing a shuriken and shouting an indistinct war cry, only to go flying and falling onto his face as he tripped over the scarf entangled around his feet. Just as his face met the floor with a resounding thud, someone rushed in through the door, and tended to the previous intruder.

"Are you all right, Honorable Magomusuko?"

"Go away Ebisu! There are obviously traps laid around. The old geezer must be more cunning than I thought, to have someone plant traps against me in advance." Suddenly noticing Naruto's presence, he addressed the latter. "Hey you! You must be the one who tricked me!"

Annoyed by the boy's incompetence, Naruto stood up and held the boy by his collar. "You just tripped on your own!"

Immediately, Ebisu recognized the blond and came to the defense of the intruder. "Naruto, let go of the Honorable Magomusuko! He's the Hokage's Honorable Magomusuko!"

Puzzled, Naruto looked at the boy he held and then at the Hokage, failing to see a resemblance. However, the Honorable Magomusuko mistook his confusion for fear and assumed that Naruto was as scared of his title as everyone else. "Hah! That'll serve you right, you miserable runt. You're no match for the grandson of the Hokage!"

Immediately, Naruto came back to his senses. "Really?" he asked sweetly, right before punching the boy into the floor. "I don't care who is your dad or your granddad. If you're an idiot, I'll punch you!"

With that, Naruto stood up and, contrary to his customary behavior, bowed to the Hokage before leaving, even as Ebisu took the opportunity to lecture his pupil. "Honorable Magomusuko, you must not retaliate even though he hit you. Associating with him will only lead to trouble for you, as he is just a hoodlum. I am the elite teacher Ebisu, and if you wish to become Hokage one day, the fastest way is to learn ninja technique from me." When the expected outburst about wanting to become Hokage now did not erupt, Ebisu looked in front of him, only to discover his charge gone. "What? He's gone!"

An amused Hokage responded: "Yes indeed, he is gone. I believe his most probable intention is to follow Naruto."

"Oh my goodness gracious me! I must prevent this disaster from occurring! By your leave, Hokage-sama."

"Actually," interjected the Hokage before Ebisu left the room, "I would like to request your services in tutoring another."

"Hokage-sama?"

"Naruto, who just left, is in need of remedial training."

Ebisu, knowing that the Kyuubi's vessel had been enrolled at the Academy but unaware of the previous day's events, assumed that Naruto had failed to graduate when he saw Naruto without a forehead protector. "Hokage-sama? Why should Naruto receive special treatment if he failed?"

The Hokage had truthfully forgotten that Ebisu was not contacted yesterday, as the Special Jonin was busy keeping Konohamaru out of trouble during the incident. While he would have preferred to keep the event secret in order to prevent further ostracizing Naruto, Ebisu would need to know if he were to teach Naruto the Academy lessons that were denied him. However, the Hokage chafed at the scornful tone Ebisu had employed when referring to Naruto and reconsidered his choice. It would be more practical to have Kakashi tutor Naruto, yet this arrangement would likely rankle his teammates if they were to learn of it. "Ebisu, this is a serious request. I am not simply giving Naruto extra chances to pass, as he has already graduated from the Academy."

Here, the Hokage enjoyed the silence. If it were Naruto, the question would have slipped from his mouth as soon as possible. The reprieve from such behavior was quite appreciated by the Hokage, and he decided to reward it by answering the unasked question. "He simply has yet to receive a forehead protector, as I requested him to take a more… traditional picture for his ninja registration form. Make no mistake: he has graduated, despite a traitor actively sabotaging his education at the Academy, and has now been placed under Kakashi as a part of a Genin team. Therefore, if you accept this request, you will respect him as an Academy graduate and you may not show your personal bias against him."

Receiving a glare from the Hokage, even in the absence of killer intent, was enough to cow Ebisu. Satisfied with this reaction, the Hokage resumed speaking. "What he needs most urgently would be basic chakra exercises and _taijutsu_ training, as well as general purpose information. After that, he would require general knowledge of chakra properties and manipulation, history lessons, political lessons and geography lessons. Do you have any questions at this point?"

"Permission to speak freely, Hokage-sama?" Ignoring both a growing headache and a sense of doom, the Hokage nodded his permission. "I have heard that the… that Naruto is irresponsible as a student and rarely pays attention. Furthermore, his attention span would negate the effect of him paying attention on the rare occasions he would do so. How would I teach him and how could such a student graduate from the Academy?"

"I believe this information would ultimately originate from Mizuki, is that correct?" Seeing Ebisu's confirmation, the Hokage continued: "That is why Mizuki is no longer a Chunin Academy Instructor and is instead receiving Ibiki's hospitality."

Though he was trained to behave properly, especially in the presence of the Hokage, Ebisu couldn't help himself. "Ibiki? Morino Ibiki?"

"Yes, Morino Ibiki. He was the one who deliberately sabotaged Naruto's education while spreading rumors to protect his act. Naruto's tendency to defy authority figures did not help, but at the root of it, Mizuki was the source of Naruto's horrible ranking."

"I see." And indeed, Ebisu seemed to be more inclined to accept the request than he previously did. "But the Charter would simply provide a free pass to the Academy in this situation rather than a graduation, wouldn't it?"

"You are correct; the Charter would not grant an automatic graduation when sabotage has been proven. However, Naruto somehow managed to pass, if only barely, each of his tests except for the _Bunshin no Jutsu_ and that test was the deciding factor for his failure. However, the answer to both of your initial questions lies in what happened afterwards. Mizuki told that Naruto would be allowed to pass if he stole the Forbidden Scroll and learned one jutsu before he is discovered. In less than two hours, Naruto mastered the _Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ and then defeated Mizuki with an army of clones."

"Huh? What?" Suddenly remembering his place, Ebisu stammered: "My apologies, Hokage-sama. I was not quite myself. What I meant was: … uh…"

Smiling softly, the Hokage answered the oddly phrased question. "Yes, Naruto, who barely passed nearly every exam and who failed the _Bunshin no Jutsu_ test, managed to learn the _Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ in under two hours. Quite marvelous, isn't it?"

"I agree." Pausing for a moment, Ebisu finally gave his answer. "If it is acceptable, I wish to first test his aptitude before deciding whether I would be willing to teach him."

Breaking into a broad grin quite unseemly for his position, the Hokage gladly accepted the terms. After all, this was what he had hoped for when he asked Ebisu: someone who would be willing to give Naruto a chance, instead of outright denying him the opportunity.

* * *

It was roughly ten minutes ago that Naruto had given up trying to tell Konohamaru to either leave him alone or stay out of sight. Already, Naruto had attempted informing the boy that rocks weren't square and didn't have eyeholes, young saplings weren't wide enough to hide behind, fences didn't have patches with posts perpendicular to each other, paintings weren't three-dimensional and, as such, wouldn't cast shadows, as well as countless other blatant atrocities that Naruto did his best to forget. Finally done with his registration form, Naruto turned his attention to the persistent boy dogging his every step.

"Hey, you!" Naruto said, pointing towards a bright white spot behind sparse leaves that immediately jumped down from the tree.

"Just as I expected from the ninja who defeated me, you have seen through my disguise once again!"

Out of patience, Naruto nearly snarled. "Who are you and what do you want?"

* * *

Ebisu had left to observe the interaction between Naruto and Konohamaru as soon as his audience with the Hokage had conluded. Unnoticed by either boy, he had landed in the roof opposite the ninja registration booth and spied their conversation very closely. The vessel carrier certainly did not quite behave as rumors would have Ebisu believe, reacting with sympathy and much greater wisdom than most people would believe once they started conversing in earnest. Already, Naruto had coaxed out Konohamaru's personal demons and Konohamaru had been chastised for the selfish reasons behind his drive to become Hokage as well as his thoughtlessness in challenging the Hokage.

"C'mon, let's get some Ichiraku's and then I'll teach you the _Oiroke no Jutsu _if you still want that!"

And with that statement, both of the boys left for the ramen stand, leaving Ebisu behind. "_Oiroke no Jutsu_? Sexy… technique?" Shaking himself off from his stupor, Ebisu quietly tailed the boys to the ramen stand. "Why would Naruto want to treat the Honorable Magomusuko to ramen, of all things? Doesn't he know how rich the Honorable Magomusuko family is?"

What Ebisu had failed to take into consideration was the warm personalities of the people serving the stand. They were the first who saw the demon vessel as a lonely child persecuted for reasons entirely beyond his control and they were also the first restaurant to have served him a meal. Though the vast majority of their other customers had fled as soon as they heard of the news, Naruto had proven himself to be quite enough to singlehandedly compensate for the loss of business: not only did they create a new and deep friendship, but the quantity of ramen he consumed would be sufficient to sustain the business.

When the restaurant workers accepted Konohamaru as warmly as they would any other customer, Ebisu watched in fascination as Konohamaru took to the waitress simply for calling him by his name and denying him preferential treatment for his station, choosing to start a more casual relationship instead. "But he's the Honorable Magomusuko! He shouldn't associate with the hoi polloi so casually; they're beneath his rank!"

Konohamaru, however, had an entirely different opinion as he launched into a discussion with Naruto about the blond's friends. Unfortunately for the Hokage's grandson, Naruto didn't know anyone else worth introducing to Konohamaru. After all, Konohamaru already knew the Hokage and would soon meet Iruka at the Academy. The others worth meeting were either anonymous to even Naruto or severely narcoleptic.

Wishing to lift Konohamaru's spirits, Naruto abruptly changed the subject. "Hey, didn't you want to learn the _Oiroke no Jutsu_?"

Immediately, Konohamaru brightened up. "Oh, yeah!"

Naruto scrunched in thought. "I dunno, I still think the _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ is cooler. You sure you don't wanna learn that one?"

Konohamaru was emphatic in his nodding. "Yeah, I'm sure. I mean, I don't see how _Bunshins_ could help me defeat the old geezer, so what's the point?"

Sighing, Naruto reminded Konohamaru: "You're thinking of taking a shortcut, weren't you? There's no shortcut if you want to be the Hokage, I told you that already!"

"Oh, right."

"But you know, you could always learn the _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ from someone else, but I'm the only one who knows about the _Oiroke no Jutsu_. So maybe I might as well teach you the _Oiroke_. C'mon, let's go to a private area."

Ebisu wondered about this marvelous jutsu as he silently shadowed the boys from the rooftops and followed them as they went through the forest. What technique did Naruto have that could knock out the Hokage himself, as Naruto had insinuated before the meal? From Naruto's behavior, it would seem that the boy preferred the _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_, yet he rather doubted Naruto would be able to win against the Hokage using shadow clones, even if he were to use the Kyuubi's youki to produce more clones.

Presently, his curiosity was about to be sated. Naruto spoke clearly and loudly his instructions to Konohamaru.

"Do you know the _Henge no Jutsu_?"

Konohamaru sputtered indignantly at the condescending question. "Of course I do." Pre-empting Naruto's request, Konohamaru yelled: "_Henge no Jutsu_!" and a puff covered his location.

When the dust cleared, Naruto stared at a reasonable imitation of himself. However, the _Oiroke no Jutsu_ was slightly more complicated. While the _Henge no Jutsu_ was indeed involved, the full jutsu also included some elements of the shadow clone in that the female produced wasn't simply an empty chakra shell, but one with the proper distribution of mass and density. Furthermore, the clouds generated by the technique had to be controlled as they dispersed in order to maximize the effect.

However, those distinctions would only come into play after the proper shell was constructed. Thus, Naruto set Konohamaru on first performing the _Henge no Jutsu_ of an attractive female. "Good enough. Now do a _Henge_ of a beautiful girl."

"What? But there aren't any beautiful girls around here!"

Sighing, Naruto muttered "_Henge no Jutsu_!" while shifting his form to his standard _Oiroke_ form. "Here, now do it!"

Up in the trees, Ebisu had to resort to using his chakra simply to prevent himself from flying off as a reaction to his extreme nosebleed. By the time Ebisu returned to his senses, he saw Konohamaru hard at work trying to transform into a beautiful girl. Ebisu decided to end this farce of a lesson before Konohamaru could be corrupted too badly. He jumped down from his branch and crossed his arms while glaring imperiously at Naruto.

"That's enough! Honorable Magomusuko, you must not associate yourself with… with _rabble_ like this boy. You want to become Hokage, don't you? If you want to become Hokage, you should learn from me, the Special Jonin elite teacher. Who else could teach you all you know? _I_ can teach you all the principles, chakra control and over one thousand jutsus. You don't need brats like Naruto! Honorable Magomusuko, we must go home now, I insist!"

"I don't wanna! _Oiroke no Jutsu_!"

While Konohamaru had finally succeeded in performing a Henge Naruto-style when push came to shove, Ebisu still had his noseplugs firmly ensconced deep into his nostrils, courtesy of Naruto's earlier _Henge_, and was therefore able to resist the effects of Konohamaru's technique.

"Hah! I am a gentleman! Did you think I would fall for such cheap tricks? Of course I wouldn't! Really, this is not the way to become Hokage. I know the fastest way to become a Hokage; you should listen to me so you learn all the shortcuts."

However, the mention of shortcuts to Konohamaru's dreams did not have the intended results.

"If I become Hokage because I take shortcuts, nobody would respect me. I won't take your stupid shortcuts!"

Konohamaru's outburst had truly surprised Ebisu. Did Naruto really manage to get through to his young charge? If so, then perhaps Ebisu might be willing to overlook this perversion of the _Henge_ technique. After all, Naruto did initially resist Konohamaru's requests for learning this jutsu. At the moment, however, Ebisu was distracted by another voice.

"Let him go, you bully! _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_!"

Ebisu was surprised by the sheer number of clones Naruto had produced without pulling on the _Kyuubi_'s youki, literally flooding the clearing with clones of himself. However, he was confident he could withstand the onslaught that was to come. "Do not mistake me for a weakling like that traitor Mizuki. Who do you think I am? I am Ebisu, elite teacher and full-fledged Jonin, and I will not fall for such a low level attack."

However, as Naruto was not planning on using _taijutsu_ to complement his _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ as an offensive strategy, he ignored Ebisu while forming the appropriate seals. "_Harem no Jutsu_!" Not only was Ebisu assaulted by a multitude of cooing blondes touching him from all sides, Naruto's _Harem no Jutsu_ was also a step up from Konohamaru's primitive _Oiroke no Jutsu_ in that each clone was also producing an olfactory illusion convincing Ebisu he was smelling pheromones. Under the onslaught of information, the noseplugs could hold the increased blood flow no longer and Ebisu was sent rocketing towards into the surrounding trees, his consciousness lost even before the first clone touched him.

By the time that Ebisu had recovered from Naruto's _Harem no Jutsu_-induced trauma, he witnessed Naruto and Konohamaru declaring themselves to be the other's rival.

"Ahem, if I may, Honorable Magomusuko?"

"Shut up, glasses-sensei! I won't listen to you anymore. From now on, I'll work hard on my own and I'll never give up!"

"How admirable a sentiment! But I'm afraid Hokage-sama requires your presence at home as soon as possible."

"Roger!"

While lying about orders supposedly given by the Hokage was a crime punishable by death, Ebisu was reasonably certain that the Hokage would be willing to overlook this case. After all, it was the most expedient way to make sure the Honorable Magomusuko stayed out of trouble and went into a place approved of by the Hokage, as well as gaining privacy for his upcoming conversation with Naruto, which Ebisu started as soon as Konohamaru was out of earshot.

"Naruto, the Hokage requested me to assist you in your remedial training. I have been informed of the special circumstances concerning your graduation and I have found you to be worthy of the attention of this elite teacher. Do you accept being my student?"

"Huh? But don't you hate me?"

Naruto managed to confuse Ebisu, the self-proclaimed elite teacher, with his own confusion. "I beg your pardon? Why would I hate you?"

"Well, because of my… you know?"

"I'm afraid I am quite in the dark as to what you mean."

"You know what's inside me, right?"

"Ah, you meant that. Hm... How do I feel about that? I will admit to being biased against you before. But I've been watching you and you are obviously distinct from your tenant. So no, I don't hate you because of that. I do however disapprove of you teaching such a perverted technique to such a youngster as the Honorable Magomusuko…"

"He hates that, you know? Why do you insist on calling him that?"

Ebisu started to wonder whether Naruto had a _kekkei genkai_ allowing him to confuse his interlocutors at will. "I'm afraid you've lost me once more. Could you elaborate?"

"Konohamaru. He hates it when you call him 'Honorable Magomusuko', so why do you keep calling him that?"

Ebisu was not quite sure how to answer such an obvious question. "Why do I keep calling him that? I call him that because it's the proper way to address the Hokage's Honorable Magomusuko. If he hates it so, he should tell me to call him Konohamaru."

"But you know he hates it! I mean, how could you _not_ know that?"

Back on the scene in the restaurant, Ebisu had finally understood why the Honorable Magomu- why Konohamaru hated him so. However, Ebisu managed to cover his own insensitivity with a partial truth. "I suspect he hates it, but until he tells me to call him otherwise, it remains the proper way to greet Hokage-sama's grandson."

"Argh! That doesn't make any sense!"

"No, it doesn't, but it's still the way society works. Incidentally, if you accept me as a teacher, I would insist that you learn manners such as that."

"What? No way!" Whereas Naruto had entertained the possibility of learning under Ebisu before, he was now set against such a situation.

However, as this was a potentially important aspect of a ninja's career, Ebisu ploughed on: "In Konohagakure, it may not matter much because our venerable Hokage-sama does not mind such breaches in protocol. However, would this be the case in other societies? I'm afraid that it isn't so. For instance, the Kazekage traditionally remains seated behind a veil whenever he deigns honor visitors with an audience while one must constantly remain kneeled and bowed when meeting with the Raikage unless one is a Kage oneself. As ninjas, we must often go beyond our borders, in which case knowledge of these customs is usually necessary to complete such missions. If you become Hokage, what do you think would happen if you violated these codes of conduct? It could easily lead to war! Therefore, I must insist that you learn conventional manners if I am to teach you."

Naruto stayed silent for a while, digesting the new perspective Ebisu just revealed. "That makes sense, even if the rules don't. I guess that means I should learn them. Hey, you're pretty cool with explaining stuff! The only person who ever bothered doing that for me was the old man!"

Disbelief and shock warred on Ebisu's face. "Did no one at the Academy ever offer you any explanations when requested of them?"

"Well, Iruka would try to get me to figure it out, but, well, he's always busy at the Academy, so he never stayed long enough to explain when I can't figure it out. The Hokage sometimes does that too, but he usually just tells me."

Left unsaid by both parties, Naruto couldn't rely on any form of tutoring whenever Iruka wasn't around to make sure everything was understood and thus many things that should have become second nature were still arcana to Naruto.

"I see. If you'll come by the Academy later today, I'll have reading material prepared for you. I'm assuming that you accept me as a teacher. Is my assumption correct?"

"Yeah, I guess you're cool. You know maybe you should just ask Konohamaru if he wants you to call him that. Or would that also be against customs? But then, the Hokage doesn't care; that's what you said, right? So why do you still call him 'Honorable Magomusuko'?"

Ebisu hid a smile: with Naruto's dogged determination and unusual way of thinking, it suddenly seemed more plausible that Naruto could learn the _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ within a few hours. "I'm afraid that the main reason for my past behavior was that I never knew, since he never stayed still long enough for me to really notice."

"Huh? But you just said you knew!"

"You should always take note of details and loopholes. That is extremely important for ninjas. Earlier I only claimed to _suspect_ it. However, I only learned of it after watching you interact with him. But you are perhaps correct, I could ask Konohamaru. If phrased properly, such a request would not be socially unacceptable."

"Alright! That should cheer him up." Naruto's stomach chose that moment to protest rather vocally. "Well, I guess I haven't eaten supper yet."

"But weren't the two of you at the ramen stand just an hour ago?"

"Yeah, but I didn't have nearly enough," puled Naruto. "I mainly just wanted to make sure Konohamaru would be okay."

"How about this: I'll meet you at your place as soon as I collect your reading materials. Is this acceptable?"

Naruto pouted. "But I'm hungry!"

Naruto's potential _kekkei genkai_ struck once again. After a moment of reflection, Ebisu understood that Naruto would not be eating at home. "Where were you intending to eat?"

"At Ichiraku's, of course!"

"In that case, perhaps I should seek you at Ichiraku's when I have the reading materials ready?"

"Sure!"

* * *

Ten minutes and fourteen ramen bowls later, Ebisu reached Ichiraku's ramen stand, and watched in shock as Naruto emptied his fifteenth bowl with gusto.

"Another!"

"Naruto."

"Hey, Ebisu! Have you ever tried Ichiraku's ramen?"

"Yes I have. Did you just…" Unable to finish his sentence, Ebisu pointed in the general direction of the large stack of ramen bowls.

"Yeah, they gave me two-for-one because I'm such a great customer. Isn't Ichiraku's the best?"

"I agree that Ichiraku's ramen is the finest ramen I have ever tasted. _However_," continued Ebisu while fixing Naruto with a stare, "ramen alone is not sufficiently nutritious to accommodate the dietary needs of teenage boys, with or without a special tenant."

Given that Ebisu had passed Naruto's trustworthiness test earlier, the latter tried reigning in his urges to protest. "What?" Unfortunately, it was to no avail.

"Even though ramen is very delicious, especially those served here, you must eat a larger variety of foods if you are to stay healthy."

"What do you mean, I have to eat other stuff? And what does that have to do with my health?"

Ebisu finally yielded to the temptation of finding safe haven for his ears behind his hands. After a moment, Ebisu answered: "You know that there are several types of nutrients, right?" Seeing Naruto's careful nod, Ebisu continued: "And you also know that you need to eat all of the different types of nutrients, right?" After Naruto confirmed this, Ebisu took a deep breath, and said: "No single type of dish has enough of all the different types of nutrients, and therefore eating only ramen every meal is bad for your health."

"But- but… there's the green stuff, and meat, and noodles, and I drink milk, so why isn't it good enough?"

Ebisu capitulated, and looked at Teuchi Ichiraku for help. Even though it might cost him a considerable bit of business, the owner of the ramen shop acquiesced the silent request. "Naruto, what he says is right. To get a balanced diet, you can't rely on the same dish forever; you have to introduce variety into your diet."

Naruto looked down. "But no one else would let me in, so I don't know what else I could do."

Prior to meeting Naruto, Ebisu had never liked the boy. He understood that the seal the Yondaime placed must have been strong enough to contain the Kyuubi's power if the Sandaime vouched for it, yet he felt uneasy about the boy: what if he turned out like the other _jinchuuriki_, the human portion tainted by the demonic one to such an extent that one became indiscernible from the other? When Naruto started causing general mayhem, Ebisu was afraid that it was the start of this process. Yet he would have never condoned ostracizing Naruto in such a manner and now that he knew Naruto to be a caring, empathetic person, he felt pity for the boy's plight, respect for the deep inner strength Naruto showed by caring for fellow villagers despite the poor attitude he received, and utter outrage at the callousness of the villagers. _Jinchuuriki_ or not, stable or not, refusing to serve a growing boy was not an acceptable behavior.

It was Ichiraku's thoughtful cough that brought Ebisu back to the present, just in time to listen to the kindly chef address Naruto. "I was considering starting making other dishes anyway, but I don't have any experience making those dishes. If you're willing, I could let you try those, and once they're good enough, I could start selling them."

Ebisu could only stare as Naruto managed to jump across the table to hug Teuchi Ichiraku while leaving his bowl of ramen undisturbed and avoiding collision with a mind-boggling number empty bowls stacked atop the table. Fearing his own sanity, Ebisu whispered to Ayame: "Is Naruto really eating his sixth bowl of ramen?"

"Huh? Oh, right, no, don't worry, he's still normal. We've just washed his first ten bowls, or we wouldn't have enough left for other customers."

* * *

After Naruto finished sixteen bowls of ramen, three plates of sushi, seven bananas and two oranges, Ebisu removed Naruto's reading materials from a storage scroll. "These three scrolls should be read and learned as soon as possible, preferably before tomorrow evening. The first should introduce you to common ninja lexicon, the second details the ninja code of conduct and the third describes the general workings of a ninja village. After you're done with those three, this scroll will teach you about chakra basics, this one is about chakra molding, and this one shows you basic _taijutsu_ forms. You don't absolutely have to read these three, as I will go over the material myself, but it would be better if you read them. Here is a book about the geopolitical landscape after the Third Shinobi Secret War. I chose this one because it goes into more detail than the Academy lessons, but still covers the basics taught at the Academy. Therefore, you may read it in front of your peers without having to reveal your… Mizuki's actions."

Ebisu sweated slightly: he had learned that Naruto was very sensitive over what he still perceived as his own incompetence and Ebisu almost offended him. Only quick thinking salvaged the situation. "I know it's not fun," he pre-empted Naruto's protest, "but it's necessary for the same reasons that you should learn proper manners. It even includes most of the unusual customs in the other lands, so it would also help in that respect. I think that should be quite enough reading material for some time. You'll have to be at the Academy tomorrow morning to get your team formations, and then you'll meet your Jonin-sensei." Remembering who Naruto's Jonin-sensei would be, Ebisu added: "I'll cheat a bit and strongly suggest that you bring this book with you, or at least something to do."

"Why?"

"I can't say, but you'll be glad if you follow my suggestion. It's entirely up to you, though. In any case, tomorrow at 8:00PM I'll be waiting for you at the Academy training grounds to start working on your chakra control exercises and _taijutsu_ forms. Is this acceptable?"

"Yeah. But, I mean, aren't you the one who will set the time for this stuff? Why are you asking me?"

"This remedial training is entirely up to you. The Hokage offered you this opportunity to catch what Mizuki took away from your lessons because it wasn't your fault that you never understood this, not because you need this to graduate."

"Oh. That makes sense, I guess. Well then, thanks," Naruto replied with his trademark grin.

"You are most welcome."

That night, when Naruto slept, there was an annoyed growl deep inside his psyche "Stupid seal, stupid humans. _Rah_!" Yet, after a whirlwind of flames slamming and rattling the cage, only a tiny scratch mark was created from the effort and while the _Kyuubi_ recovered from the exertion, the cage restored itself to its previous state. "Why won't these scratches stay!"

* * *

Naruto bounced his way to the Academy. Today, he went there as a ninja, and no longer as a student. He was currently ranked dead-last, having barely passed through unusual circumstances, but pass he had. Thus he would join his classmates, and be placed in a team. 'I hope Sakura-chan's in my team', Naruto thought. He had been infatuated with the pink-haired girl ever since he had seen her being bullied, and standing up afterwards. He highly coveted such strength of character.

Now, though, he sauntered inside his previous homeroom, practically jumping with joy. Shikamaru, on the other hand, was not quite as enthusiastic, and lifted a lazy eyebrow when Naruto passed near him.

"Oy, Naruto. Today's for Academy graduates only…" It was then that Naruto walked into Shikamaru's field of vision, and that Shikamaru spied a Konoha _hitai-ate_ on Naruto's forehead. "Oh, so you graduated, didn't you? So troublesome," he added, voice dropping down to a low mutter even as his head sank once more into the comfort of his forearms.

Once his worth was recognized, Naruto promptly ignored the lazy ninja. It was a wonder Shikamaru even graduated: he paid even less attention than Naruto did in class. Whereas Naruto still paid attention whenever he was present (and not laughing at the recipient of his pranks), Shikamaru seemed in constant slumber.

Naruto found an empty seat and was about to commandeer it when he noticed his neighbor. "Teme!" Naruto had seen, as every one else did, Sasuke's hordes of admiring fans and couldn't understand how Sasuke could be so aloof nor what the fans saw in Sasuke. Of course there was his stellar ninja performance, yet Naruto's faith in the rankings had been shattered by his own experiences. Thus, there was nothing he could see to justify the unbridled adulation the Uchiha received, especially when Sasuke did not bother acknowledging the very existence of his cult following.

"Hn." Just as Sasuke apparently did not acknowledge anything else, for that matter. The customary exchange concluded, Naruto sat down, haughtily looking away from the top-ranked Academy graduate. At that moment, Sakura appeared.

"Sakura-chan! Good morning!" Whereas Sasuke was only worth a contemptuous and dismissive salutation, Sakura earned a much warmer welcome from Naruto, though one would wonder why if one were to observe her response.

"Naruto-baka! Get away from Sasuke-kun!" Without waiting for Naruto to react to her imperious tone, she bopped him on the head. However, instead of sending Naruto scampering into another seat, he simply slumped down deeper into his seat, protectively holding his head while muttering "Ouch!" under his breath.

Iruka entered the classroom at that moment, causing Sakura to grudgingly take the seat next to Naruto. "Alright, everyone, congratulations once again on passing the Academy's exams. You have been placed into Genin teams of three and each team will be headed by a Jonin sensei. I will name the teams. You should be prepared to leave together as soon as your Jonin sensei calls you.

"Now, let's begin. Team One…"

'Might as well start reading,' Naruto thought. He reached into his bag, and retrieved the book Ebisu-sensei had given him yesterday. While trying to memorize the Hidden Villages and the nations without Hidden Villages, Naruto heard his name.

"Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke will form Team Seven." A chorus of boos and catcalls accompanied this announcement, forcing Iruka to temporarily stop enumerating the teams in order to reestablish order. "Silence!" he roared. Unfortunately, the ruckus was still too loud, and nobody heeded his order. In the end, five minutes passed before the class calmed enough for Iruka to resume reading from his list.

"Next: Team Eight. Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuuga Hinata and Aburame Shino. Team Nine from last year is still active. Last group. Team Ten: Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji. You are to have lunch, and meet back here at 1:00PM. Your Jonin senseis will come to get you, and you have until then to eat lunch. May you have long and successful careers ahead of you."

Iruka simply stood in place, smiling sadly at the Academy graduates rushing to the cafeteria, until he saw Naruto putting a thick book back into his bag. Calling out to his erstwhile student, Iruka asked: "Naruto is that really a book that you just put away?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head before answering. "Yeah, Ebisu-sensei suggested that I bring it today. I dunno why, though, it didn't take that long for you to finish with that."

"Let me check something." Iruka flipped through his notes before looking back at Naruto, a grim look on his face. "It's as I feared. Naruto, he may have given you very good advice."

"Huh? Why?"

"Sorry, but I can't tell you."

Even though Iruka's expression was apologetic, Naruto insisted: "Why can't you tell me? And what's so bad anyways? Yesterday, Ebisu said that he strongly suggested I bring this book, but he wouldn't tell me either!"

"I'm afraid there are reasons for that and we're not allowed to tell you why we can't tell you. You know, privileged information and all that."

"All right then. I guess I should go eat lunch."

"Sure thing, Naruto. Take as much time as you want."

"What?"

"Same reason you were told-… _suggested_ to bring the book."

His fingers reaching his head once again in puzzlement, Naruto set out for lunch. 'Hey, maybe Sakura would be willing to eat lunch with me!' With that thought in mind, Naruto set out to find his teammate with a spring in his step. He heard her speak as he approached a corner. However, even though he repeated the excuse Sakura used to convince Sasuke to eat with her, Sakura shot him down ruthlessly.

"You're too loud and really annoying." Turning her head back to look for the third member of Team 7, who had used the distraction to escape, she added: "And you cost me my lunch with my Sasuke-kun." Huffing in indignation, she walked briskly away from Naruto.

His head hanging from this recent rejection, Naruto shuffled his way toward Ichiraku's ramen stand, where, instead of being served his favorite noodles, he would be presented with whichever culinary experiment Teuchi decided to subject him to. Then again, yesterday's supper wasn't all that bad, so perhaps today's lunch would be acceptable as well.

"Welcome to Ichiraku's, Naruto! What's wrong?" asked Ayame, noticing Naruto's downcast expression.

"Sakura-chan said I'm annoying. Again."

Hoping food would lighten Naruto's mood, Ayame pushed a bowl of rice with chicken and eggs on top. "Here's a bowl of Oyakodon Teuchi made just for you."

"Thanks," answered as Naruto began to pick at his food.

"Well, should I report a failed experiment, or are you going to tell me what's wrong? You're usually not affected so much when Sakura refuses. And I still think she's not worth your time, if she isn't nice to you."

"But Sakura's, well… Sakura! Of course she's worth my time. It's just that she asked Sasuke-teme out, saying it's for teamwork, and the teme refused. So when I ask her as a teammate, she should accept, right? Except she just says that I'm 'annoying'. What does she see in the teme anyways?"

Ayame sighed. It was obvious that Sakura was pining more for the recognition that being with Sasuke would bring than because of any personal trait Sasuke had. Coming from a clanless family, she would have been most probably ridiculed in her time at the Academy and associating herself with an Uchiha –the pinnacle of clans, next only to the Hyuugas– would conveniently solve those problems. Sasuke's well-known tragic past also added to the allure, and his exemplary performance at the Academy didn't hurt either. Naruto, on the other hand, had unknown parentage, a tragic past that people shunned from rather than romanticized and had his Academy education sabotaged, if the rumors were to be trusted. There was simply no comparison from a fangirl's perspective.

Yet telling Naruto the truth would only depress him further, and summarizing the situation by calling Sakura a shallow person undeserving of Naruto's idolizing would only bring catastrophe. Thus, Ayame settled with her standard answer. "I don't know, Naruto. But perhaps someday she will open her eyes and see you for who you are."

"Thanks, Ayame-chan. Say, this is pretty good! Another bowl, please?"

"Please? Am I going insane, or did Naruto just say please? Who are you and what did you do to Naruto," Ayame mock-yelled at Naruto, hoping to distract him from his funk.

As always, such antics thoroughly derailed Naruto's previous train of thought. "Hey, I can be polite when I want! And there's also what Ebisu said yesterday. I should at least learn how most people act, so that I can do that in a mission when I need it."

"I guess manners could come in handy. Here's another bowl of Oyakodon."

"Thank you." Now back to his normal slurping rate, Naruto looked up barely one second later. "That was tasty as well. Another, please?"

Ayame sighed even as she presented a bowl with pork cutlets placed on top of rice. " This is called Katsudon." Things were settling back into their normal pace and while Ayame was happy to have distracted Naruto, Ichiraku's might go out of business if Naruto kept his pace up.

Fifteen assorted bowls of rice-based meals and five Hokage-sized ramen servings later, Naruto took out his trusty Gama-chan. "So how much is it?" Ayame simply pushed the tab out. "But… that's just for the ramen. What about all that other stuff?"

"It's still experimental, so we can't charge you anything in good conscience."

"But... but that's just not right! I mean, I ate it, so I should pay for it, right?"

Ayame sighed. "But it's not for sale, so we can't charge you. We don't even know how much it'll cost once we charge for it anyways, so we're not charging you."

"In that case, I'm not eating anything else. I'll just stick with ramen."

At that point, Teuchi poked his head out from behind the kitchen counter. "Is anything wrong?"

Naruto huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest, a pout firmly in place. "Ayame won't charge me for all those other stuff you made. But I ate it, so I should pay for it."

"Did you like it?"

"Yeah, it was really nice. Who knew stuff other than ramen could taste this good?"

A smile slipped onto Teuchi's face before he continued: "Did you like it better than ramen?"

Naruto fidgeted, unsure of the answer. "I guess I still prefer ramen, but those were still very good."

"Well, tell you what. I'll start charging you when you like my other dishes as much as my ramen."

"But I can't! Then I'd never pay!"

In contrast to Ayame's exasperation, Teuchi chuckled good-naturedly. "This is the first time I've heard of a customer insisting to pay. How about this: I'll charge you half of what ramen costs until you like it as much as ramen. Is that acceptable?"

"Sure! So, um..," Naruto said while calculating, "that would make it…" Ayame saved Naruto from potential embarrassment by showing him the amount on her calculator. "Ah, thanks!" Slapping the requisite money on the table, Naruto looked at his watch. "Oh, 12:45PM already! I've gotta go. See ya!" Without waiting for their answer, Naruto sped across the rooftops at ninja speed.

* * *

Five hours later, Team Seven was still seated in the Academy room. Within fifteen minutes, most of the teams had already left, and when Team Ten had departed with Asuma at 1:30PM, Team Seven was the only one still waiting for its assigned Jonin. By 5:00PM, Naruto had given up on reading his book, and now Naruto was considering setting up a prank. The consequences would be a potentially irate Jonin sensei ordering him to clean up, but Naruto felt that was acceptable collateral damage. Thus, Naruto set an elaborate system designed to dump water when the door opens, and dump oil-based paint if the water is dodged, and…

"Baka dobe. As if a Jonin would fall for that!"

"Useless," concurred Sakura. "Why did we have to be paired with such an idiot, oh Sasuke-kun?"

Naruto simply ignored both of his teammates, concentrating instead on making sure the chalk would explode on contact before he carefully laid it into the third set of layered traps. Whatever criticisms one may level at Naruto, there were two aspects of the ninja arts in which he excelled: stealth and traps. These were also the two aspects he enjoyed the most, as both were necessary to complete a successful prank.

Naruto sat back to view his fragile constructs with a critical eye. While he would have preferred using water-based glue rather than chalk, and colored chalk instead of paint, he had to make do with the equipment available. Once satisfied, he returned to his book with renewed vigor, only to hear the sound of a ninja approaching. Naruto put his book back into his backpack and eagerly awaited the arrival of the Jonin.

_Splash_, _splotch_, and _crash_. Then _boom_. Somehow, instead of falling into only one trap as intended, the silver-haired masked Jonin managed to stand in the one place where all of the attacks overlapped. Coldly looking at Naruto rolling on the ground while laughing, Sakura sputtering nonsensical apologies with a pleading expression and the aloof Sasuke, Kakashi pronounced his judgment. "My first impression of you: you are all idiots. Meet me on the roof."

His command voiced, Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of leaves, all the while hiding a smile. Whoever set those snares was quite the accomplished prankster and while dodging the limited quantity of liquids would have been but child's play for him, he felt the need to reward the intricate work that it entailed by stepping into the small zone where the areas of effect from each ambush overlapped. Unfortunately, the behavior of all three Genin hopefuls immediately ruined the pleasant surprise he had felt when he saw the elaborate trigger mechanisms and he saw no reason to hide his disappointment.

Once all three of his charges arrived, Kakashi pushed for team introductions while keeping all of his personal details from the team. After all, he'd never passed a single team of snot-nosed kids and he certainly didn't intend to change his habits.

As it turned out, Naruto was a loud boy obsessed with ramen and none too shy about it (or was it simply hunger?), Sakura was infatuated with Sasuke while the latter simply cared about reviving his clan and "killing a certain man".

Even this brief encounter with fresh Academy graduates was starting to irritate the Jonin, prompting him to feed them a morsel information at a time about the Genin exam due tomorrow morning, along with his customary warning about the failure rate and breakfast. His job done for the day, Kakashi retreated from his temporary charges with all the speed of the _Shunshin no Jutsu_.

* * *

At 8:00PM, Naruto was back at the Academy, ready to start his lessons with Ebisu. As expected, his sensei was already waiting for him, holding a leaf in each hand.

"Ah! It seems you are more punctual than Kakashi. Did you have the chance to read over the supplementary scrolls yet?"

"Meh, not yet, gomen."

"That's quite alright; don't worry about it overmuch. It may have saved valuable time, but it should not interfere significantly with your overall progress. Since you can do the _Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_, you must already have some idea of what chakra is and how to mold chakra. I will however still present a brief overview, in case there are any unforeseen difficulties." Ignoring Naruto's groan, Ebisu resumed his monologue. "What is chakra? Nobody is too certain what chakra is exactly, or whether there are limits as to what one may accomplish with it. What we do know is that both physical and spiritual energies are needed. We commonly call them 'components' of chakra, yet no one knows how apt that description would be. While we do not have a way to quantify chakra or its properties, it is generally accepted that such details are trivial as we would still need to learn to use chakra intuitively."

Though Ebisu had purposefully kept his speech short, Naruto had already nodded off to sleep. "Naruto!" The sharp tone was enough to waken the slumbering boy. "What energies are needed to mold chakra?"

"Wuh?" Naruto muttered with half-closed eye-lids. "Energies needed what?"

"What energies are needed to mold chakra?"

"Uh… Physical and spiritual?"

"Correct. You would do well to stay awake, as I do not have Iruka's boundless patience. Do we have a way to measure exactly how much chakra is in use, or the properties of that chakra?"

"Um, I guess so?"

His incorrect answer earned in a whack to the head. "No we don't. But it doesn't matter because we would still need to rely on intuition to manipulate chakra even if we did." Seeing his pupil's attention was still on himself, Ebisu launched into the practical portion of the evening's session. "What do we actually know about chakra? It's created by every single cell in your body, did you know that?" Ebisu smiled inwardly: it seemed that addressing Naruto directly and frequently lengthened his attention quite dramatically. "But the amount is so small that it's useless by itself. That's actually why most people and living things can't use chakra effectively even if they do produce it. So why do you think we are any different? That's because we collect it into chakra coils and when the coils are sufficiently full, chakra circulates throughout our chakra pathways. The chakra can be modified and released at points called tenketsus. People say that different tenketsus have different properties, but that's still being debated. That's it for today's theory. There'll be more when we do handseals, but that's it for today.

"The practical exercise we'll start with today is a basic chakra control exercise, which mostly helps concentration. You have to hold a leaf to your forehead using only your chakra, like this." Ebisu readily demonstrated, making the leaf stick to his hitai-ate and continued speaking while keeping the leaf in place. "If you manage to finish that, we'll start working on basic _taijutsu_ forms."

However, one hour later, Naruto still couldn't manage to hold the leaf for more than a few seconds. His mind invariably wandered and lost the concentration necessary to hold the leaf in place. After letting the leaf fall yet again, Ebisu decided that things had gone overboard.

"Hokage-sama told me you mastered the _Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ in less than two hours. How could you possibly do it, if you can't concentrate?"

Startled out of his latest attempt, the leaf fell once more less than a second after it was retrieved. "Oh, the _Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ was easy because it's sorta like my _Oiroke no Jutsu_-…"

"Do _not_ ever utter the name of that perverted jutsu in my presence again!"

Naruto, if at all perturbed by Ebisu's vehemence, did not show it. "… in that I use my chakra to make a solid construct instead of an illusion or a chakra shell. The _Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ really just focused it on making real clones, rather than filling out the solid shell of a _Henge_."

To say that Ebisu was befuddled would be an understatement. Naruto had spent the first half-hour either blasting leaves all the way across the schoolyard or shredding the teaching tools. How could someone with such mediocre concentration and chakra control manage to understand and enhance the concept of a chakra shell by himself? Of course, most students learned the _Henge no Jutsu_ successfully, yet most never knew _why_ it worked until they were well-established as Chunins. What was even more puzzling was that Naruto managed this feat for a prank-like jutsu, when no one would know the difference between a regular _Henge no Jutsu_ and his _Oiroke no Jutsu_. Or would they?

"Why didn't you simply use a _Henge no Jutsu_? That's what I thought it was."

"Oh, but you see, you fainted before all of the smoke dispersed. If you had stayed awake longer, you'd have seen me pinching my breasts, and rubbing against you. If the _Oiroke no Jutsu_ didn't have a solid shell, I'd have to actively imitate the way everything moves and I have trouble with that. Actually, come to think of it, I have trouble for anything other than smell."

Rubbing his head while trying to prevent a nosebleed, courtesy of Naruto's insensitive treatment of the topic, Ebisu concentrated on what he'd learned about Naruto. Contrary to popular belief, there was a keen intelligence underneath that mop of blond hair, even if the attention span did not often accommodate for much usage of it. Naruto also managed what usually gave people the most trouble with illusions: smell. How would this relate to holding the leaf in place?

"Alright, let's try it another way. Place two leaves on your forehead, and concentrate on each one as quickly as you can. Once that's done, go to the other one."

"Huh? But I can't even do one; how would that work?"

"You can't do one because you lack the attention span necessary. However, my hypothesis is that if you set your mind to a more challenging problem, you may be able to concentrate better instead of drifting away."

"What's hippos got to do with this?" Seeing Ebisu's darkening expression, Naruto squeaked: "NevermindI'lldoitrightaway!"

"It means… a theory that is not yet proven, something you think may be true but you don't know for sure."

Naruto stared for a while, leading Ebisu to think that his extempore definition may have been too complicated and struggling to find simpler words to convey the idea. However, Naruto broke into a huge grin. "Yeah, I get it now. Thanks!"

Naruto took two leaves without waiting for Ebisu's response and carefully set both on his forehead. Within fifteen minutes, he could hold any number of leaves that could fit onto his forehead. Though it had taken much longer than Ebisu expected, both teacher and student felt oddly accomplished and agreed that _taijutsu_ training would wait until the next day at the same time. After all, Naruto had to get up at 5:00AM the next morning.


	4. Ch3 The Genin Test

Around 5:00AM, on training ground seven, three children ambled in one at a time. Sakura had arrived early, as would properly befit ninja, though perhaps an ideal kunoichi wouldn't be rubbing her eyes quite so hard, ostensibly trying to expel sleepiness. Naruto arrived next. "Heya, Sakura-chan. Good… mmph… morning," he muttered in the middle of a muffled yawn. "Where's that prettyboy teme?"

"Baka," she admonished as she slapped his head from behind, the customary bop being apparently too costly for her current state of awareness. "Don't insult Sasuke-kun. And I'm sure he'll be just on time."

And just on time he was. As 5:00AM came around, Sasuke shuffled across the bridge, his hands in his pockets. A slump in his shoulders indicated he too was tired, though he somehow projected an aura of aloofness despite his slouch. "Hn," was his only greeting to his teammates.

Half an hour later found all three members sitting down on various objects, with Naruto grumbling something about "baka senseis", "late" and "ramen" under his breath. Soon, however, his head started nodded, and within minutes he was silent once more except for the light snore. "Dobe," Sasuke scoffed below Sakura's auditory range before promptly ignoring his teammates once more in favor of looking disinterested.

Two hours later, Naruto woke up to see Sakura perched precariously atop a rock close to the wooden post on which Sasuke rested. From her dejected air, it seemed she lacked a partner for conversation, something Naruto was happy to rectify.

"Sakura-chan! I can't believe our Jonin sensei is late again! How lame is he?"

Apparently the two-and-a-half hours had done wonders for her energy, since now she managed a normal bop to Naruto's head. "Baka Naruto! Of course our sensei isn't lame; he probably has an important mission to do."

"Sheesh, you didn't have to do that," Naruto muttered while rubbing the newly acquired bump on his cranium. Naruto turned away, a petulant pout on his lips while he retrieved the assigned book out of his backpack as he considered how lucky he was to have forgotten to remove his book the previous day. Once the blond settled down to read, he remained surprisingly silent, though the occasional twitch in a random limb betrayed his dislike of stillness.

* * *

Kakashi gazed at the monument dedicated to the KIA with his unmasked eye, reminiscing about his days with Minato-sensei, Obito and Rin as teammates. Oh, how simple his mindset had been! 'Follow the rules and never stray from the mission'; Kakashi had swallowed the ninja code of conduct hook, line and sinker. The new perspective Obito foisted onto him had come too late to properly appreciate the comradeship he could have had: had he but heeded the common sense in Obito's arguments, both of his former companions would still be alive. Kakashi had yet to soften his stance on this one matter, and he would never allow a team of Academy graduates to pass if they did not understand the importance of teamwork.

Though he did not fool his colleagues, as they knew of his past, he adopted an irreverent (or, as Maito Gai would phrase it, a 'hip') attitude. Among other traits, he was suddenly afflicted by a chronic tardiness comparable in severity to the late Obito's own legendary tendencies. This was his penance for his past behavior, his apology to his fellow teammates for his foolishness in his strict adherence to the code of ninja conduct. After all, they were simply a guideline, rather than a legal charter of proper ninja advocated otherwise, and the ROOT operatives he had officially trained were efficient, and adhered strictly by the precepts of the Code. Kakashi couldn't help but pity them; pity them and despise them both. His own experience had cost Obito his life.

Kakashi had never forgiven himself. As a result, he had kept up the front flawlessly throughout all those years since the incident; to the point where many of the younger shinobi could scarcely believe that Kakashi was _that_ Kakashi, the one of the fabled Sharingan, the Thousand-Techniques Kakashi, the fearsome Copy-nin. Yet despite his act of utter boredom, Kakashi always completed his homework whenever he was handed a mission and scrutinized each of his missions under every conceivable angle, and even a few that were not quite sane. This time would be no exception as he reviewed the Academy files of the team he was supposed to test, all the while looking "underneath the underneath".

Uchiha Sasuke was, by all accounts, a stellar student, with top-notch scores in every practical aspect of shinobi training and second in academic performance to Sakura only. However, when Kakashi noted the lack of reports on any social interaction he may have had, the masked ninja surmised that Sasuke was probably fueled by his rage at Itachi and by his thirst for revenge, if his declaration from the previous day were any indication. This would not sit well in a team and Kakashi would most definitely not pass a Genin team solely for the "exceptional honor and chance" of teaching an Uchiha. What rubbish! Kakashi had been a genius even before the fateful transplant had occurred.

Sakura, on the other hand, was ever-so-slightly above average for the kunoichi of her year in all ninja matters (arranging flowers and cooking skills aside), yet managed to score as the top-ranked kunoichi and the second-ranked student. This was due to her perfect academic scores, earning her the label of "the smartest kunoichi of her generation". Kakashi did not bother hiding his derogatory bark of laughter when he learned how she gained her rank: theoretical knowledge may be useful, but if one couldn't apply the knowledge then what good was academia on the field? The one solid point in her favor was her chakra control: she apparently had perfect chakra control to complement her perfect regurgitation of knowledge. Unfortunately, even that silver lining was offset by her mediocre chakra reserves. None of this, however, would give any indication as to how she would perform in the upcoming test, as her ability to work in a group seemed to depend on the members of the group rather than her own contributions.

This brought Kakashi to ponder on the potential of the last member of his team, Naruto. Here was the "dead-last" of his class who managed to pass every single test –just barely in every single case, except the failed _Bunshin no Jutsu_ test. By all accounts, he should have been failed yet again, making a total of three failures throughout his Academy progression, the final straw that should have barred him from re-entering.

Normal students would enroll at eight years old and graduate three years later. However, Naruto had abnormally large chakra coils even when he was six, and was thus enrolled. The qualitative report was far from glowing: Naruto showed troubling signs of insubordination, was prone to committing (largely unsubstantiated before Iruka) pranks and would either fall asleep or be distracted by the slightest event. This assessment would have made many a Jonin-sensei wary of Naruto, yet Kakashi held higher expectations than the reports should have warranted.

First and foremost, he knew that Naruto was the container of the _Kyuubi_ and would thus be watched much more closely than any other students. That he could still be naïve enough to commit the pranks spoke well enough of his character, but that he could leave Chunin Academy instructors without proof for so many of his disturbances indicated a high level of ingenuity.

The second extenuating circumstance was the note written by Iruka and signed by the Hokage. They mentioned that Naruto was involved in uncovering a traitor and that by doing so Naruto had earned his graduation from the Academy. It also mentioned proof of Naruto's Academy education being sabotaged and that Naruto had chosen private remedial classes instead of having an appropriate rank assigned through conventional means.

'An interesting one, that Naruto,' thought Kakashi. Looking at the sun, Kakashi estimated the time to be 8:00AM. Any latecomers who might be on his squad were likely to have arrived already, and so Kakashi set about to observe his squad of Genin hopefuls from the haven of the thick forest surrounding the assigned meeting place.

What he saw was interesting enough to warrant spying on his potential team for an entire hour. Whereas Naruto was engrossed by a rather thick book, possibly as part of his make-up activities, Sakura would vainly attempt striking a conversation with the Uchiha every so often while sitting as near to Sasuke as propriety would allow. Sasuke was entirely too dismissive of the offered conversation while he busied himself looking as distant and unperturbed as ever. Kakashi could unfortunately surmise from this spying session that Sakura was indeed one of the brainless Academy harpies who worshipped the ground on which "_the_ Sasuke-kun" walked, as she all but announced yesterday. However, to still not understand that Sasuke was unwilling to share a romantic relationship after presumably three hours alone was bordering on insanity. 'Then again', Kakashi reflected, 'fangirls never were known for their mental stability.'

Kakashi's impression of Sasuke from the previous day was that of a man driven to seek revenge no matter the cost, and the report only strengthened that belief. From Sasuke's badly-hidden body language, it was clear that he considered both of his teammates to be liabilities in his quest to gain power rather than colleagues. This attitude didn't sit well with Kakashi. The silver-haired Jonin resolved to keep a close eye on Sasuke's ambitions: it wouldn't bode well for the team if one teammate didn't care for the welfare of the others.

Perhaps surprisingly, he believed that Naruto would most likely be the one to pass this dysfunctional squad. After all, if Kakashi's interpretation of the Hokage-signed note was correct, he had shown the ability to think of his comrades' welfare before that of his mission. 'Or in less flowery language, I'm going to wait another year,' Kakashi concluded. 'Might as well confirm my predictions.' With that thought, Kakashi strolled through the scenic route to arrive on the ledge of the bridge, appearing as if he had just arrived at the meeting place. "Yo!"

"You're late," yelled Sakura and Naruto in a surprisingly coordinated assault on Kakashi's eardrums.

Without bothering to answer their accusation, Kakashi briefed them about his test. "There are two bells tied to my belt. Your task is to gain possession of one of the bells, and whoever doesn't have a bell by the time this alarm clock rings will be tied to the post on the other side of this training ground. The one tied up will not have any lunch, and will be sent back to the Academy. To get the bells, you have to attack me with the intent to kill. If no one gets a bell, then no one will pass. Any questions? No? Then the test starts now."

Immediately, Sakura and Sasuke rushed to the cover of the nearby trees while Naruto simply stood his ground. Kakashi decided amuse himself by removing a certain orange book from his kunai holder, thus enraging Naruto enough for the blond to charge headlong at the Jonin without even bothering to use his kunai. However, after fifteen minutes of pointless evasion tactics, Kakashi was bored. As noted on the report, Naruto's form was truly and quite utterly atrocious, even when viewed from the corner of one eye while reading adult literature.

Stepping once more behind Naruto while lazily avoiding an elbow, Kakashi put the latest volume of his precious Icha Icha series away to the safety of the confines of his kunai-holder to lock his fingers in the _Tora_ seal with one fluid and well-practiced movement even as he solemnly announced the full name of his technique, enunciating each syllable clearly and loudly for the sake of the spectators hidden in the forest. "_Konoha Hiden Taijutsu no Ougi: Sennen Goroshi_." He took the time to tilt his fingers appropriately and viciously struck Naruto right in his rectum.

Unsurprisingly, Naruto shot straight up and away from Kakashi's bony extensions, squealing in a manner much reminiscent of porcine cattle being led to the slaughterhouse as he flew all the way up into the air and then all the way down into the river. 'Oops,' thought Kakashi, 'that thrust may have been just a tad too forceful.' Kakashi was about to turn to his other students when he heard bubbles breaking the water near Naruto's landing place.

'What is that?' Kakashi was sincerely baffled. He had only seen high-level _ninjutsu_ or low-level _genjutsu_ result in that effect, yet the boy didn't (or shouldn't) know either of those. Barely a second later had Kakashi received his answer in the form of multiple Narutos erupting from the riverbed, cackling madly while the Jonin waited for the impending collision. He was not disappointed, as he was soon enveloped in a swarm of orange-and-blond. However, unlike Mizuki, Kakashi noticed something was off about the _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_. 'The puffs of dispelled _Kage Bunshins_ are too strong,' thought Kakashi. 'Is he combining Wind elemental training into the _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_? But that can't be right: elemental training is always preceded by necessary discussions on the nature of chakra and Naruto's academic scores are much too low for him to grasp the finer points of the theory.'

Kakashi was interrupted in his musings by the sheer number of clones he had to confront. Tired of wasting his energy, Kakashi selected the obvious route that Naruto (and both spectators) had neglected. A judicious application of _Kawarimi_ and _Henge no Jutsu_ later, the multiple copies of Naruto were perplexed as they attempted to identify the disguised Kakashi. In response, Naruto dispelled his clones, surprising Kakashi by the speed with which he found the logical solution to this problem. Unfortunately for the blond, he had also played straight into Kakashi's back-up plan. One chop to the neck amid the hovering cloud later, Naruto fell unconscious while Kakashi walked away unscathed, heading towards Sasuke's general direction after setting up a trap should Naruto wake up earlier than expected. After all, with the _Kyuubi_ throwing a wrench in Naruto's physiology, one should expect the unexpected.

When Kakashi arrived at Sasuke's clearing, he was surprised to find that Sasuke had set quite a few snares around the place. Nothing quite as complex as the three-layered trap from yesterday, though it was still much more advanced system than the Academy-sanctioned ones. Kakashi waited for Sasuke to initiate an attack even as he stepped lightly into the clearing with his nose once more firmly ensconced in the latest installment of the _Icha-Icha_ series. And then Kakashi waited some more.

Guessing that Sasuke was waiting for him to trigger one of the mechanisms, Kakashi obliged and sent a log hurtling towards himself, only for the masked Jonin to redirect it to Sasuke. The top-ranked Academy graduate flipped through the air as expected of the Uchiha, and landed on his feet while rushing through the handseals for the _Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu_. 'Impressive,' mused Kakashi while eyeing the Genin hopeful with an apathetic gaze. 'The _Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu_ requires a much larger chakra pool than most top-ranked Academy graduates would have. Perhaps he is a prodigy after all. Too bad that won't be enough to earn this team a pass.'

Soon afterwards, the expected fireball sped in Kakashi's direction, even as the Genin disappeared from view. Once Sasuke noticed that there was no resistance to his _Goukakyu_, he terminated his jutsu and prepared himself for Kakashi's counterattack. Thus, when Kakashi mentioned ninjas guarding their blind spot, Sasuke whirled around with a backhand punch and almost managed to touch Kakashi's hair.

'His _taijutsu_ is much better than Naruto's,' noticed Kakashi. 'Too bad he doesn't have Naruto's _Kage Bunshin_ or that Naruto doesn't have any semblance of a _taijutsu_ form. If they worked together, they could be quite formidable.'

Kakashi was engrossed enough in his thoughts that he almost failed to notice Sasuke's strategy for retrieving a bell. The Jonin decided to reward his opponent's diligence by letting him touch the bells. Instead of being bolstered by his apparent near-success, however, Sasuke's focus lost way to rage. Sloppy haymakers _à la _Naruto began to pepper Kakashi. Unfortunately for the Genin hopeful, Kakashi quickly tired of the now-easy evasion tactics and reacted by launching his first attack in the exchange, a roundhouse kick that forced Sasuke to bend backwards at an unnatural angle. It was however naught but a feint: Kakashi somersaulted three meters away using the momentum of the kick. Before his supporting foot even left the ground, Kakashi blazed through seals faster than even Sasuke's superior eyes could follow. Instead of landing into the ground, Kakashi sank into it completely.

Sasuke searched his surroundings, baffled, before once again resorting to grounding himself tightly like a spring while waiting for Kakashi to reappear. Kakashi smirked from his underground position: Sasuke missed the point of the attack entirely. This was proved when his hands successfully grabbed Sasuke's ankle, and Kakashi pulled the Uchiha into the ground. Once Kakashi resurfaced, he casually announced for Sasuke's benefit: "Second shinobi tactical knowledge: _ninjutsu_. That was _Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu_. For your information, your performance was only very slightly less pathetic than that of the dead-last. Other Jonins may have even not noticed the difference."

This was clearly not the truth: Sasuke showed much better chakra control and _taijutsu_ than Naruto as well as a wider repertoire of jutsus, which more than compensated for the blond's enormous chakra stores. However, it would not do for the Uchiha to develop too big an ego. Content with leaving Sasuke to fume from his prison, Kakashi whistled as he ambled away towards Sakura's last known position. A very observant ninja may have noticed a lull in the tuneless melody when Kakashi heard Naruto nearby, but neither of the Academy graduates were experienced enough to detect the slight pause. Was Naruto inept enough to have not noticed the trap Kakashi had conveniently left behind?

Mentally shaking off these thoughts, Kakashi pressed for a slightly brisker pace to reach Sakura before returning to the boys. Kakashi had to refrain from making a grimace in disgust, even if her stealth was more than acceptable for her current rank. How the Academy could accept such an atrocity Kakashi would never understand. Sakura had burrowed herself deep into a bush, yet her hair still peeked through the foliage in its pink glory.

Kakashi, deciding to complete his enumeration, silently mouthed: "Shinobi tactical knowledge number three: _genjutsu_." Zipping through the requisite seals, an illusion was cast before the tiny winds generated by Kakashi's hand motions could reach outside, thus nullifying any chance at identifying the _genjutsu_ that Sakura may have had.

Indeed, as soon as the _genjutsu_ was completed, Sakura was startled out of her precarious perch by the sounds of her Uchiha teammate groaning in agony. She immediately dropped down as soon as she managed to appreciate the scene Kakashi had set for her, unconscious before she hit the ground.

"Yep, just as I thought: completely useless as soon as the Uchiha suffers the slightest possibility of damage," confirmed Kakashi. Up until now, Kakashi had been slightly impressed by the individual skills of the squad and found his preconceived estimates to be slightly off, though Sakura broke the trend. "Now, back to Naruto and Sasuke."

Kakashi retraced his steps back to Sasuke's burial grounds, just as silent now as he was earlier. As he surmised, Naruto hadn't fallen for his trap and, judging by the rough mounds of earth surrounding Sasuke's last known position, had instead freed Sasuke. A glimmer of hope surged inside Kakashi before he ruthlessly crushed it. 'After all, even if they show the beginnings of teamwork and even if they manage to grab both bells, they still might not understand the importance of teamwork,' Kakashi reminded himself. 'This is why there are two bells instead of three: to verify whether they truly understand the value of teamwork, the staple of Konoha's nindo.'

Kakashi leisurely strolled through the forest, curiosity over the status of his bait winning over the more pressing matter of finding Naruto and Sasuke. When he arrived at the edge of the clearing, a rather disturbing scene greeted him: Naruto was hanging in the second trap he had set. 'Was it a _Kage Bunshin_ that liberated Sasuke, then?' Kakashi asked himself. 'Why would Naruto free Sasuke rather than himself?'

It was then that Kakashi remembered the complex triple-layered trap that Naruto had left him yesterday, and finally understood what happened. Naruto must have seen through the simple two-layer ambuscade he set around the leaf made to look like a bell through a variant of the _Henge no Jutsu_, and freed Sasuke in order to capture Kakashi and, by extension, his bells. Since there were only two bells in any case, he was obviously willing to share a bell with Sasuke once they trapped Kakashi inside his own snare. But why would Naruto choose to work with Sasuke? After all, wouldn't he find Sakura a preferable partner?

It was when Kakashi finally located Sasuke that the final piece of the puzzle was elucidated: Sasuke had used _Henge no Jutsu_ to look like Sakura. Kakashi had to give credit where it was due: not many Genin hopefuls would have either enough strength in their hands to perform jutsu underground or skill enough to cast a _Henge_ without the handseal.

The riddle now solved, Kakashi quickly formulated a plan to counter the two boys' five-layer mechanism ('Five! Even Naruto shouldn't be able to think of five!'), and sent a regular _Bunshin no Jutsu_ walking out with a _Kage Bunshin_ hidden by a _Henge no Jutsu_ inside the _Bunshin no Jutsu_, five twigs on each foot holding the shadow clone aloft inside the illusion. After all, the best way to honor a well-laid trap (or a prank) was to answer with an equally crafty one. "Yo! So you took my bait?"

"Urusei! That wasn't fair; I had the bells before they fell off!"

While keeping the argument going, Kakashi's clone kept walking closer to the first of the traps, and was careful to trigger the release mechanism himself using a tiny but precise surge of chakra. At this point, it wouldn't do for either the _Bunshin_ or the _Kage Bunshin_ to be revealed. The rest, however, would depend entirely on his shadow clone.

The reaction of the regular _Bunshin_ was exactly expert enough to imitate Kakashi's true reflexes, and thus the first of the twigs the _Kage Bunshin_ had stuck to its left foot provoked the third trigger, having completely bypassed the second layer. As Kakashi had calculated, that twig broke, leaving the _Kage Bunshin_ with only two more twigs in that foot and five in the other.

Once the third layer of defense around Naruto had activated, a net fell around Kakashi's clone, which required a shuriken from the _Kage Bunshin_ to decommission. However, the trajectory of said shuriken had been precisely calculated and caused the ground underneath Kakashi to open. In order to overcome this latest inconvenience, Kakashi halted his descent by sticking to the side of the hole using his right foot and propelled himself out of the hastily constructed burrow, breaking three twigs in the process.

Once outside, the Kage Bunshin stepped on the fifth trigger and allowed the twigs to be ensnared by the rope that held it up, just as Sasuke, still disguised as Sakura, threw a shuriken that cut straight through the _Bunshin_'s bells. Naruto liberated himself from his ropes just before jumping down to catch the bells. Unfortunately, this was Kakashi's plan and he removed the _Henge_ that had hidden rocks as bells, releasing the previously ignored second-layer trap right as Naruto was above the rope.

"Tsk, tsk! Getting ensnared by your own strategy is really bad form for a ninja. What were you thinking?" Kakashi enjoyed Naruto's discomfiture as the latter tried to reach for (the real) Kakashi's bells only to find out his arms had not yet grown enough to allow such a movement. "And did you really not notice that Sasuke was disguised as Sakura?"

"Huh?" Naruto had momentarily forgotten all about Kakashi's bells. "But, I tested Sakura first!"

"Dobe!" Since both his disguise and hiding place had been discovered, Sasuke saw no reason to prolong the charade. "Who wouldn't know what Sakura would do if you insulted me?"

"It seems you all fail. Not too surprising, though now I have to choose who to tie to the post. Hmm. I'll first bring Sakura here before I decide who was the most pathetic. Both of you remain here." Without checking to verify compliance to his orders, Kakashi disappeared in a puff of leaves before reappearing without letting the leaves fall to the ground. "I have decided. Since Naruto was incompetent enough to get caught in his own trap, I'll tie him to the post. You two follow me."

Kakashi held Naruto much as one would a sack of potatoes and blurred through the forest at an impossible speed. By the time Sasuke and Sakura had arrived, panting from the exertion, Naruto was already tied and Kakashi was sitting down cross-legged.

"Your performance was miserable. You should have noticed that it is impossible for mere Genins to steal a bell from a Jonin, and even less possible than impossible for that to occur twice. Therefore, you should have worked together, all three of you. Yes, Naruto," Kakashi pre-empted Naruto's outburst, "you thought you were cooperating with Sakura. However, it shouldn't have mattered whether it was Sasuke or Sakura, just as it shouldn't have mattered that there are two bells: the true test was to see if you understood the importance of teamwork. So what if one of you gets sent back to the Academy? You _do not_ leave comrades behind during your missions!"

Kakashi's glower was fierce enough that even Sasuke flinched. "'Those who do not follow rules are trash'; that is what they teach at the Academy. But you're no longer in the Academy, and you should realize that now, those who leaves comrades behind are worse than trash, no matter how much you dislike that comrade."

Pausing to ensure all three of his charges understood what he just said, Kakashi continued, "Usually, when a team fails as spectacularly as this one did, I wouldn't bother sending them back to the Academy." Kakashi giggled mentally as he saw their states of confusion, even as his glare did not waver in its intensity. This part was fun! "Usually, I would recommend failures like you to quit playing ninja. However, since two of you showed some form of cooperation, I will allow you to try again. After Sasuke and Sakura finish their lunches, I'll give you a make-up test. I will stay around, and if _any_one allows Naruto to eat _any_thing, the two of you will never become ninjas. I repeat: you are to prevent Naruto from eating anything if you want to pass."

The last part said, Kakashi vanished in his customary way, sending leaves flying into the three Academy graduates' faces. Kakashi's speech had rattled them, as they each believed themselves up to par. To not only fail the superficial test, but to flunk it so "spectacularly", in Kakashi's words, had brought a sense of despair. Nevertheless, Sasuke recognized that he needed his energy if they were to repeat the test, and dutifully ate. It was Sakura who brought him out of his introspection.

"Kakashi said the two of you cooperated. What happened exactly?"

Sasuke, who was not privy to neither Sakura's inner self shouting about Sasuke understanding the true motives of the test nor her yell of "Shannaro!" answered simply: "Kakashi had me in a bad spot, and getting Naruto to help me was the convenient way out."

Sakura's (apparently innocent) question brought up Sasuke's conscience, and he found himself cursing her for it. He glanced at Naruto surreptitiously, but Naruto had caught the subtle movement. "Eh heh! Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Besides, you heard…" Unfortunately for Naruto, his stomach chose that moment to bellow its disagreement. "Uh, never mind the first part, but we'll all fail if I eat, so don't mind me."

Sasuke kept eating, yet his conscience would not be so easily suppressed. Finally, he sighed as he offered his food to Naruto without looking at the latter. "Here, we all need to eat if we are to work together."

"But- we'll fail if I eat," protested Naruto.

Sakura, never one to waste an occasion to impress Sasuke, joined in as well. "This is too much for me anyways; eat mine."

While Naruto had been reticent about Sasuke's offer, it seemed he had no such compunction when it was Sakura who volunteered her meal. "Aw thanks, Sakura-chan! But I'm tied up, can you feed me?"

Sakura bopped Naruto hard on the head even before her brain processed the information. She was about to do so again when Sasuke intervened. "Sakura, we need him intact if we want to work together. Don't damage him more than necessary."

Admonished by her idol, Sakura immediately complied, and fed Naruto a spoonful of rice while squinting in disgust with her face turned away from Naruto.

Suddenly, Kakashi reappeared, shaking with indignation. "I _warned_ you not to let Naruto eat! I **ordered** you not to let food get near him, yet you fed him! You guys went behind my back and directly acted against clear, explicit orders! Do you know what you've done?"

All three students cowered before the might of the fumes billowing from Kakashi's ears. "You guys… pass!" His single visible eye upturned into a half-circle with his hidden smile, causing both Sasuke and Sakura to drop from surprise.

"What?" If the perfect unison were any indication, it seemed the three students had gained quite the coordination.

"You guys pass. This was the make-up test I gave you. I never intended to give you the same test, as you would probably look underneath the underneath this time given that I've told you what was there. So instead, I forced you to choose between your future careers and your teammate."

Ever the smart one, Sakura noted: "But that would only test me and Sasuke. What about Naruto?"

"He showed he could work with you, and now he showed he would sacrifice himself for Sasuke. He passed just as well as the two of you. Now, at 2:00PM this afternoon, we will meet here to go over our training schedule, and I'll stamp your Genin identification. Any questions?" When no one answered, Kakashi dismissed them.

After Sasuke and Sakura had left, Kakashi turned to the grumbling Naruto. "Did you make the triple-trap yesterday?"

Naruto faltered, seeing Kakashi's intensity. "Well, uh, y'see…"

"I was the ANBU Captain, so don't bother lying to me. Did you make the triple-trap yesterday?"

"Well, yeah."

Kakashi felt ashamed of the villagers when he saw Naruto flinch subconsciously. Kakashi had received a report of each and every prank Naruto had committed, and always found them both ingenious as well as funny. They infallibly humiliated the target as thoroughly as possible, yet never caused anyone harm in the process (with perhaps the single exception of the tour-guides when he redecorated the Hokage Monument, as falling backwards was sufficient mechanical cranial trauma to result in hospitalization).

Yet here he was, preparing for a harsh beating, and Kakashi immediately ceased the show. After all, it wasn't funny if the target was suffering as disproportionately as Naruto was. "That was quite clever."

Ever so slowly, Naruto raised his gaze to look at Kakashi in the eyes, still fearing retribution. "You really think so?" His disbelief was clear in his voice.

"Yes. I am certain the Academy did not teach the concept of layered traps, and was quite surprised when I found three consecutive ambushes waiting for me. Congratulations on that."

"Thank you!" The bright smile Naruto now sported was enough compensation for the extra effort the tardy Jonin had put in his compliment.

"Now, about today's five-layered traps, that fourth mechanism seemed quite unlike you, as it requires calculating the exact angle of attack. Did you make all five today?"

"No, I didn't: Sakura-chan made that one! Isn't she smart? Except, that wasn't Sakura-chan after all, was it?" Kakashi was amused by the plethora of emotions blatantly etched on Naruto's face: first elation, than puzzlement before settling into dejection.

"No, it wasn't. But that simply means you have teammates who can help you make a larger variety of ambushes. That could also help you with your pranks." Naruto squirmed awkwardly, but Kakashi kept speaking to show he didn't begrudge Naruto his prankster streak. "Now, about your studies. I understand that your Academy teacher was rotten, and that you're getting help now. How's that going?"

"It's slow! I mean, I was reading for that this morning, but there's three scrolls I'm supposed to read, and three more after that. I haven't even finished the one on ninja words, so I didn't even get started on the ninja-code-thingy or the ninja village stuff. And there's also chakra basics, chakra molding and _taijutsu_ forms, but Ebisu-sensei said he'd go over those with me, so that's not such a big problem, but there's also the book about geopoli-thingies that he told me (actually, he just suggested, he didn't really tell me) to bring with me."

Kakashi's ANBU training was sufficient, if only just, to paint the final picture from the fragmented information Naruto had provided him with. "In summary, you're covering ninja lexicon, ninja code of conduct, general ninja village politics, chakra basics, chakra molding and an overview of a relatively recent geopolitical landscape," Kakashi replied, reverting back into ANBU-trained emotionless reciting. "That it?" Having noticed his lapse, Kakashi made sure to smile as he asked for confirmation.

"Isn't that what I just said?" Predictably, Naruto was indignant. "But yeah, anyways, that should be what I'm doing, but everything's going so slowly! I finally managed the leaf exercise thing, though. It took me over an hour, but I still managed it after Ebisu told me to try with two leaves first."

Kakashi was really quite an extraordinary genius. As such, no one would be surprised when he correctly identified Naruto's problem immediately. "So, it seems you have trouble with your attention span, and more complex, multi-faceted problems are easier for you to solve."

"Huh? That's also what Ebisu said. How did you know that?" No one except Naruto, it seemed. "And what's multi-faceted?"

Kakashi, reluctant to launch a lengthy discussion for so trivial an issue, sought the most expedient answer. "That was just a wild guess, and you'll learn about that word in the scrolls." Kakashi released Naruto from his bonds before he continued: "I need to know: when are you meeting with Ebisu?"

Naruto scrunched up his face while trying to recall. "Yesterday, we met at 8:00PM, and we're meeting today at 8:00PM. After that, I don't think he set a specific time."

Knowing how much Ebisu valued punctuality, Kakashi assumed that 8:00PM and later would be reserved for Naruto's remedial training. It still left him with more than enough time to work with training and missions, as well as allowed him to read his _precious_. "All right. See you at 2:00PM!"

With a wave, Kakashi disappeared from the training ground in a puff, wondering what he had signed up for. This was, after all, the very first Genin team that passed his lunch test, and his mission evolved from merely testing candidates to training full-fledged Genin. He spent surprisingly long minutes pondering possible schedules where both training and missions would mesh together. In the end, he decided to forego direct supervision of individual training for each student, and left himself with enough time to properly savor the Icha Icha series. Speaking of which, Kakashi brought it up from his kunai holder, and promptly started giggling.

* * *

Naruto decided to order take-out from Ichiraku's. Doing so nearly had the kindly Teuchi suffer from a heart attack, as well as narrowly missing a trip to the ANBU interrogation cells to confirm his identity, but his reasoning was simple and iron-clad: he needed to finish at least the first scroll as soon as possible. Even today, Kakashi had used terms he couldn't understand, and he was getting quite tired of it. In the past, he simply bore it with a grin, as there was nothing he could do to remedy the situation, yet he wasn't improving noticeably even after receiving the scroll. Thus he decided to eat at home while studying the scroll.

'If only I could read more than one word at a time,' lamented Naruto, 'this would probably go much faster. Bah, guess nothing worth learning is easy.' With that thought, Naruto plunged once more into the scroll. By the time it was 2:00PM, Naruto had finished only half of the scroll, but it was still greater progress than he'd previously observed.

Once again, Naruto leapt toward the training ground, his trusty book safely tucked inside his kunai holder. And though he was the last of the Genins on the team to arrive, he was still too early by Kakashi's standards. After fifteen minutes of Naruto pestering Sakura to no end and acquiring the fruits of his labor in the form of ruptured eardrums ("You're annoying!") and painful bumps on his head, Naruto had had enough of Sakura bopping his head (or, more accurately, he was afraid he'd receive a solid hit on one of his pre-existing injuries, as his skull was now entirely covered with them). He was secretly glad he'd assumed Kakashi would be late, and settled down once more with his book.

This action earned him a glance from Sakura, who promptly jumped on the chance to converse with the Last Uchiha without Naruto distracting her from her efforts. "Hey, Sasuke, what do you think Naruto is reading?"

"Hn. I don't care." Left unsaid was: 'Whatever he reads, he'll still be the dead-last and a dobe.'

"I wonder if he's finally noticed that he sucks and wants to improve." Reflexively, Sakura started bashing Naruto, certain that she was out of Naruto's earshot. Though she wasn't, due to Kyuubi-enhanced hearing, Naruto was immersed enough in his reading to remain oblivious of the conversation. "It must be because he doesn't have parents who tell him what not to do. That's surely why he's the dead-last, and has no manners, because he's too free; lucky him. Can you believe-…"

"The solitude," Sasuke interrupted quietly. Yet Sakura was well-versed enough in Sasuke's public mannerisms that she understood any contribution that he volunteered must necessarily be of extreme importance, though she also surmised incorrectly that it meant well for her prospects of gaining his affections.

"The solitude of having no one far outweighs any tongue-lashing or punishment a parent or sibling could possibly give you. Though he's a dobe and absolutely hopeless in the ninja arts, I still have more in common with him than with someone who has never suffered before. Someone like you."

Sasuke finally looked Sakura straight in the eyes, yet the look was cold and contemptuous enough to penetrate even Sakura's rose-tinted glasses. Slowly, deliberately, Sasuke returned Sakura's insult to herself. "You're annoying." Leaving Sakura to the tender mercies of despair and unrequited love, Sasuke turned his back to her and walked away, aloof as always. This time, Sakura did not follow him. Sasuke was pleased.

Sakura, however, did not share his good mood. Having her words turned on her definitely alerted to how hypocritical she had been acting. She had truly believed that by showing Sasuke her perseverance, he would succumb to her advances and start a relationship with her, yet she was invariably annoyed when Naruto tried her tactics. She also finally learned how it felt to be openly insulted by the target one's affections, and for once she did not relish an experience involving Sasuke. It made her feel small and insignificant, the cold eyes piercing her very soul.

After wallowing for a good hour in her depression, she finally turned her thoughts to another person. How did Naruto manage to get up after that, to deal with the constant jeers and letdowns she witnessed and even actively handed out? It would seem he was emotionally far stronger than she. Sakura resolved to be nicer to Naruto. She would still refuse to go out with the orange eyesore, though, should he ask her out again -her newfound generosity did not extend that far, not quite yet.

Thinking about Naruto, she discreetly observed him from her position quite a distance away from the boy. He seemed completely captivated by the book he was reading, and only an occasional yawn belied that dedication. It was in sharp contrast with his very vocal protests that books were too boring and useless for a first-class ninja such as he. Sakura blinked. If she were not mistaken, it was the same book he was reading when waiting for Kakashi the very first time. Her interest piqued, she joined Naruto of her own free will.

"What's that you're reading?"

Startled, Naruto had exchanged the book for a kunai before Sakura could even blink. When he identified his teammate, Naruto relaxed, and took out the book once more. "Oh, you mean this? It's just a book about… how the world is like." Naruto was proud of himself: he avoided sounding like an idiot for once while referring to the topic of the book.

"_Geopolitical Landscape After the Third Secret Shinobi War_, by MN. Oh, I've read this book. It was pretty useful for helping me out with the Academy lessons-…"

"The dobe is noticing his deficiencies? About time!" Sasuke's interruption dripped with contempt, and Sakura couldn't believe he had mentioned the similarity of solitude between the two male teammates but minutes earlier.

"At least I don't have my head stuck up in my butt all the time! Or is that a duck's butt I see on your head?"

Any resolve Sakura may have had of being nicer to Naruto, even for the sake of teamwork, immediately vanished as soon as he insulted the Uchiha. "Why, you ignorant little worm! How dare you insult Sasuke? He's the coolest ninja ever, and he is much above you, and he looks way cooler than you, and his hair is much more stylish than yours, and he's an Uchiha!" Sakura enhanced her shouting with physical expression of her outrage, pounding Naruto's head none-too-softly with each declaration, never noticing how pathetic she sounded as she rounded against the blond. When her rage finally died down somewhat, she noticed that Naruto had gone limp in her grasp and slumped down to kiss the earth as soon as she released him.

'Oops,' she thought, 'I may have gone overboard.'

'_**SHANNARO! Serves the baka right**_,' disagreed Inner Sakura.

"Yo!" Kakashi's cheerful greeting interrupted Sakura in the middle of a disagreement with her Inner Self, such that the expression she wore was comical at best.

Sasuke, who had been so surprised by the proper construct of Naruto's insult (one that relied on misdirection from an undeniable physical trait) that he temporarily lost grasp on reality, was brought back from his stupor. As proof of his return, he issued his obligatory 'hn'.

Naruto recovered surprisingly quickly from Sakura's beating, and was able to compensate for the lack of volume on her part. "You're LATE! Again!"

"Why, yes I am. I believe I am a full hour-and-a-half late. Is that correct? You see, there was this old lady…"

* * *

Kakashi was reviewing his assessment and the resulting decisions he made even as he launched into one of his prepared speeches. After all, he would actually have to take responsibility for this team, as the Genins managed to pass his make-up test. Thus, he quietly observed Naruto, confirming his choices.

From the corner of the book peeking out of the kunai holder, it seemed Naruto was once again reading up on remedial coursework. His deficiencies were indeed quite worrisome: the gaping holes in his basic shinobi training would preclude any C-rank missions from consideration for much longer than for most Genin teams, while his lack of social etiquette could turn even D-rank missions into nightmares.

However, whatever else he may or may not be, Naruto most certainly was dedicated, concluded Kakashi. He was focused and from Kakashi's earlier conversation, he knew that Naruto did pay attention, though his microscopic attention span would be problematic in a team with stellar Academy graduates such as Sakura and Sasuke. Nevertheless, with plentiful prodding, Kakashi believed he could force the others to accept the blond based on his dedication. That was, after all, another point that Naruto shared with Sasuke and one that Sakura was likely to accept.

For now, however, Kakashi had to start paying attention, as he had finished one of his lengthier excuses. It was rather frightening how easily he could recite those standard excuses without paying attention –he'd have to invent some new ones, if only to keep himself sharp. It was fortunate that in his ANBU training Kakashi had learned how to refocus himself and organize his thoughts within a moment's notice, as he was able to transition smoothly from stamping the Genin IDs into detailing the training schedule he had quickly assembled.

"Now, for the training part, you will be required to do individual training. This will involve at least ten laps around the city each morning while wearing thirty-pound weights around each foot, and I will occasionally check on you to make sure you do this. You will also hone your chakra control by making leaves float on top of your hand." Kakashi duly demonstrated this, and noted that none of his charges looked impressed. "It's harder than the leaf exercise you were shown in the Academy because you need to focus and maintain your chakra outside of your body.

"After you have mastered the leaf control exercise and are able to finish the laps within half an hour without being tired, you will move to doing at least twenty laps with fifty-pound weights on each foot and will start practicing your _taijutsu_ forms underwater. At this point, you should be competent enough to warrant me personally overseeing your individual training. Come see me then, and show me the new exercises. I will help each of you individually one day out of three, so that I am equally available to each of you. How much you get out of this depends entirely on how hard you're willing to work and follow my instructions."

While this was not a perfect solution to tend to the special needs of each of his students, this scheme seemed the one most likely to appease the Uchiha while making his other charges grow as well. Naruto, for one, would likely improve the fastest due to the rectification of his previously stunted education, but this would still fit nicely with his private tutoring. In addition, it would provide a convenient cover for any sudden improvement he may have.

"On top of individual training, we will meet at 7:00AM every morning to get missions, and we will do team training after the missions to improve teamwork. I recommend that you repeat the morning exercises in the evenings, but that's also entirely up to you. Questions?"

Surprisingly, Naruto seemed skittish when he raised his hand. "Um, Kakashi-sensei, where do we get the training weights?"

Sakura's fist suddenly appeared where Naruto's head was while Naruto was now laid out on the ground. "Baka! You buy the weights at any ninja-equipment store. Seriously, how stupid can you get?"

Kakashi, however, understood Naruto's quandary. "Naruto, I'll show you if you want." Seeing Naruto prepare a protest, probably to announce that he wasn't a baka and that he knew where to buy them, Kakashi continued speaking. "I'll make sure you get them, even if I have to buy them myself."

In truth, as soon as Naruto asked the question, Kakashi cursed himself for forgetting how it was standard practice for merchants to inflate prices whenever Naruto went to buy something. While a _Henge no Jutsu_ might fool the merchant, any ANBU noticing someone using _ninjutsu_ inside stores would immediately send the ninja to receive Ibiki's hospitality. Given how often ANBU patrols would "happen" to revolve around Naruto (though Kakashi guessed he shouldn't complain too much, as they did save brutal beatings from devolving into fatal ones during Naruto's early childhood), that would be an option best ignored.

Seeing that Naruto had accepted his help, Kakashi looked back to the group. "Any other questions? No? Well then, that's it for today. Naruto, if you have time?"

Once Sasuke had departed as poultry fleeing foxes and Sakura chased after him with loud cries of "Sasuke-kuuun", Kakashi turned back to Naruto and started leading him along to the weapons section of the business district. "Sorry about cutting you off. I know that you are capable of finding training weights within stores. I just thought that you probably wouldn't want them to know about your childhood, as that would lead to questions about your… tenant."

Naruto scratched his head. "Yeah, I hadn't thought about that. Thanks!"

Seeing Naruto's foxy grin, Kakashi went back to more serious subjects concerning the team. "The Third's law about your tenant doesn't apply to you, you know. You can tell anyone you want, as long as it doesn't endanger Konoha."

Naruto looked glumly at the ground for a while. "Does that mean you think I should tell Sasuke and Sakura?"

"Just to make sure you understand, no, you don't have to tell anyone. But you probably knew that, so I guess you're asking whether I would recommend that you disclose the information to your teammates, for the sake of teamwork." Seeing Naruto's confirmation, Kakashi continued: "Yes, I think you might eventually want to tell them, but you should only do it when you're comfortable about it. If you ever do tell them, make sure they know they can't tell anyone else who doesn't know, or their lives are forfeit. I can help you with that, if you want."

Naruto nodded vigorously. "Yeah. It's scary, you know? Having… a powerful tenant inside me. But I guess it's not too bad. That's why I heal quicker, isn't it?"

Kakashi chuckled at that. "Yes, it's a good thing your tenant does that. Otherwise, you'd probably be brain-dead from all the concussions Sakura gives you." As they reached the store, Kakashi made sure to hide Naruto from the merchant's view until they were safely down the aisle. "Here's the plan: you take this pair of weights, and you go to the cashier."

From Naruto's pointed look, Kakashi almost believed he had grown a second head. "But they'll charge me more than I can afford!"

"Don't worry. I'll be coming in from behind and I'll pretend to buy after they tell you the price."

Naruto's eyes positively gleamed with mischief. "Heh. That should be fun!"

With a newfound spring in his step, Naruto bounded up to present the set of weights to the cashier. As expected, the cashier scowled darkly, and asked Naruto: "Are you sure you can pay for these? They're expensive, you know, reserved for only top-notch ninja, not for ruffians like you. That would be 50000 ryo."

Naruto didn't have to fake his indignation. "Hey! I'm a ninja too! I just made Genin! Look here!" Naruto shoved his identification to an unrepentant merchant.

"Really? Oh, sorry, I didn't know that. That would mean it's now 150000 ryo. Now pay up or get out."

Hearing the price, Naruto played the part of a dejected customer and returned the equipment to the rack. Kakashi ambled up behind Naruto, took the same item, and went to the cashier. "How much would this be?"

"That would be 500 ryo, please. Anything else, sir?" The cashier was already bagging the item before Kakashi offered payment.

"I just heard you tell my cute Genin student that it was 15000 ryo. Why would that be?" Hearing this, Naruto poked his head out from behind the aisle, smirking wickedly.

The merchant was flustered, and with good cause. Kakashi was well known by the shinobi and civilian residents of Konoha both, and it was also known that he had widespread influence. "Well, uh, y'see, uh, he's… well, y'know, he's a… Ahem, you know what it is."

Kakashi dropped his glare. "Yes, I know exactly what he is." Kakashi was pleased to see the merchant compose himself. "Yes, of course I know that Naruto Uzumaki is now a full-fledged Genin."

The merchant was mortified, but Kakashi was unforgiving. "I'll make sure that my Jonin friends know that you charge Genins more for a simple pair of weights than you charge civilians or Academy students, and I'll also make sure they know you charged more than a few months' worth of salary for a pair of weights."

Kakashi looked up, and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, perhaps I should warn all of the Jonin senseis and not just my friends? They'd owe me favors for that. After all, 150000 ryo is roughly a Genin's yearly pay, so they wouldn't be able to afford it for quite a while. Yes, the favors they'd owe me would definitely be worth the trouble."

The merchant had had enough. "No, please, sir, Hatake-sama, please! What do you want?"

Kakashi lifted a disinterested eyebrow. "Hm? You said something?"

The merchant was desperate. "Please, what do you want me to do? That's… you know what that thing is, and I don't mean its hitai-ate!"

The merchant was frantically pointing at Naruto's head while blubbering, and Kakashi followed the waves by lazily turning his head. On one hand, he was sorely tempted to needle the merchant until the latter signed his own death warrant by revealing the secret. While he had guessed the standard treatment that Konoha merchants reserved for Naruto, it was quite a shock to see the merchant unrepentant, certain that Kakashi would see the "error" in judgment he had purportedly made. Doing so would also send a strong signal that Naruto was not to be targeted, and any who did so would be harassed by the ninja population.

On the other hand, said ninja population was unlikely to immediately rally behind Naruto's plight and his act might seed the starts of a civil war. After all, not everyone knew how many safe-guards the Yondaime had constructed when setting up the seal, or how long the Yondaime had taken to make sure that each of those was at least thrice-redundant before integrating yet four other sets of fail-safe mechanisms into each portion of the seal. Among those who knew, even fewer were aware that while the Yondaime's chakra and life-force would create the cage, it was the chakra of the Shinigami itself that would power both the seal and the safeguards, and a stronger force than the Shinigami's had yet to be discovered. This was a secret kept out of necessity: if any seal-master from any other village learned of the Yondaime's last innovation, the threat to Konoha would be immense. Indeed, anyone dreaming of world domination might find their goals suddenly much easier if news of this power were to leak out.

It was with this thought that Kakashi decided to let the merchant keep his head above his shoulders. "If you're referring to the S-rank secret instated by Sandaime, I find your attitude highly inconsistent. If he is 'it', shouldn't you treat 'it' with the utmost respect? And if he isn't 'it', what did he do to deserve paying so much for a simple pair of training weights?"

The merchant, however, had a much more convoluted logic than Kakashi had predicted, and Kakashi relaxing his killer intent had loosened the merchant's tongue. "_It_ is currently sleeping within a shell of a boy, waiting to recuperate _its_ strength. If I give _it_ the training weights, then _it_ will grow stronger that much faster! Surely you know that, Hatake-san!"

Kakashi sighed. It seemed he would have to pull rank, after all. "I assure you that I have personally seen the Yondaime's work, and it is foolproof. As an elite Jonin of Konoha, as a former ANBU captain, as the legendary Copy-nin of a thousand jutsus, I stake my reputation on this: the Yondaime's work is flawless, and there is absolutely no way that Naruto will repeat the tragedy of eleven years ago. Is this enough for you, or do I have to get the Sandaime to revoke your license after I testify about your unreasonable pricing scheme?"

The merchant paled. He knew that Kakashi was powerful enough to land him directly to Ibiki's interrogation chambers and Ibiki was one of the few ninjas who did not give Naruto any special treatment. The charges Kakashi had leveled were also serious enough to exile him, and he had nowhere to go if he were to leave Konoha.

After gulping reflexively and nearly choking on his dry throat, the merchant finally stammered his answer. "Your reputation will be more than sufficient, Hatake-sama."

"Good. If Naruto ever reports to me that you charge him more than the pricing he sees any other Genin is offered, I will personally make sure that you are to receive Ibiki's warm hospitality. Am I clear enough?"

"But what if it claims it saw me offer something for free for another Genin? I would go broke!"

Kakashi's glare was enough to stop the merchant in the middle of his rant. "Are you claiming I can no longer detect lies?"

"Of course not, Hatake-sama. Please forgive my slip of the tongue. I will offer _it_ the exact same pricing that I offer all Genins."

"You will also treat Naruto as a _human_, because that's what he is."

"Yes, Hatake-sama. I will treat i-… I will treat _him_ as a human." Though the correct word was used, the same venom was injected into it. Unfortunately, there was nothing Kakashi could do to prevent that.

Naruto, on the other hand, had been observing the conversation with wide eyes. Never before had anyone tried to force merchants to treat him fairly and he was surprised when the merchant conceded charging Naruto standard fare.

"Ne, Kakashi, whatever he calls me is fine. It's up to me to prove to everyone that I'm not _it_, right? As long as I get the chance to prove that, it's fine!"

Kakashi narrowed his eye at the merchant, waiting for another outburst of stupidity. However, the merchant was left speechless. He had always grossly overcharged Naruto, and had called him every insult possible without breaking the Saindaime's law. He had also suffered the consequences of his actions in the form of a rather colorful re-decoration of his store (thankfully in water-based paint), numerous impromptu showers and more than a few swelled toes (courtesy of strategically placed mousetraps), all of which convinced him of his righteousness. Naruto, however, was willing to forgive (or was it forget?) all of their past history for simply charging standard fare.

"Gaki, it's all right. I'll just treat you as I would any other baka!"

Kakashi exhaled a long-suffering sigh to cover his internal relief as he left Naruto and the merchant to their squabbling. It seemed Naruto would never have any problems acquiring ninja equipment in the future.

* * *

"So did you finish the scrolls yet?"

Ebisu was crouched over a training post. How Naruto had first missed him was a mystery: years of running away from Chunins after he performed pranks had taught him an awareness of his environment that was rare in Chunins, much less Genins. Of course, that was when he was expecting it and he usually wasn't. Yet here was Ebisu, who had managed to evade Naruto's senses even when he was consciously pushing further then he normally did after pulling off particularly tricky stunts.

"Nah, I just finished the ninja lexicon-thingy this evening. I haven't even opened the other two yet."

"That is fine. It is a bit slower than I had hoped, but still perfectly acceptable. So now that you have gotten the chakra exercise down, we will be doing basic _taijutsu_ forms. Let us start with the first Academy kata."

"But that one's boring and useless!"

"It is still necessary to start somewhere simple and the Academy kata is good for that."

As Ebisu watched Naruto settle into the first stance, his eyebrows scrunched together. Whoever taught him _taijutsu_ did not do a very good job. The _kiba-dachi_ was awkward, the _shiko-dachi_ was unbalanced, and Ebisu had to marvel at Naruto's ability to stay still with the monstrosity with a passing resemblance to _nekoashi-dachi_.

"That is enough. Quite enough for now. Who taught you this… this…" Ebisu struggled to control his words. "…this _kata_?"

"That was Mizuki-teme. I guess that means it's wrong, isn't it?"

"That would be one way to put it." Ebisu shook his head, trying to forget the bastardized basic stances he had just seen. "Let's start with the stances."

"But they're uncomfortable! Why do I have to do them?"

"They're uncomfortable because you were taught wrong." Ebisu made an effort to stay neutral, as the stances were taught to him incorrectly rather than him refusing to dedicate himself to them.

"Oh. But Iruka looked at them during my exam! Why didn't he say something?"

"Because that would be pulling favorites, or, to use ninja lexicon, 'showing favoritism for one's subordinate'."

"I guess," Naruto agreed, rubbing his chin. "So what should I start with?"

"First show me your _kiba-dachi_."

* * *

Three hours later, his clothes soaked with sweat, Naruto shuffled his way home. Who would have guessed learning stances could be so physically demanding? He took a shower, and headed to bed, all the while just as oblivious to Kakashi meeting Ebisu in the clearing as he was blissfully unaware of the demon raging inside of him, struggling to deepen the scratches on its cage.


	5. Ch4 Missions, Missions and More Missions

A muffled voice was heard from deep within the verdant foliage, even as no movement betrayed the temporary resident. "Target in place. 'A', are you ready? 'O' out."

A crackle of static later, another voice sounded from the radio in the same bush in close succession. "Affirmative. 'A' in position. 'A' out."

"Message confirmed. 'E', are you in the clear? 'O' out."

"Affirmative. 'E' has clear view. 'O', go ahead. 'E' out."

With the crucial positioning of teammates confirmed, an orange blur shot from the bush straight across the distance between three trees and grabbed a furious ball of fur, screeching and clawing every which way as soon as it was captured. Even with his shinobi training, Naruto's face was criss-crossed by scratches within seconds, ornamentation that did not go unnoticed by the Uchiha.

"Dobe. Can't even grab a cat without getting scratched?"

"Teme! Why don't _you_ try holding Tora?" Coupling action to words, Naruto thrust the seething feline towards Sasuke as the cat surprisingly complied with Naruto, liberally applying her extended digits onto Sasuke before the latter could back away. Truly, Hell hath no fury like a cat cornered!

Unfortunately for the Genin team, Sakura's fist acted of its own accord as soon as her eyes saw the damage her crush suffered and found Naruto's head as readily as ever without first consulting the wisdom of such a move with her brain. Unfortunately, this was one case where restraint would have been preferable as the blow was enough to send Naruto off into La-La land, thereby releasing the cat. When the cat darted away in a puff of smoke before even touching the ground, it became clear that Sakura had reduced the efforts (and sufferings) of her teammates to naught.

Yet when Inner Sakura analyzed the situation, the conclusion she reached was startling enough to shock Sakura out of her stupor: their target was a nin-cat! It had to be, in order to not only scratch Sasuke, but also use _Kawarimi no Jutsu_ (or was that the _Shunshin no Jutsu_?) as smoothly as it just had. It never crossed Sakura's mind that all cats, whether trained in the nin arts or not, possessed the ability to reap the benefits of extreme speed as soon as their freedom was threatened.

Since Sakura lacked the latter piece of information, she immediately turned to Sasuke to confirm her assessment, only to find him gone. Naruto woke up just as Sakura chased Sasuke and the blond immediately raced after Sakura. Fifteen minutes later, all three were panting from their exertion (and, regardless what Kakashi had said, the morning runs did _not_ help; not the first day) and the boys silently agreed with Sakura's earlier assessment: Tora had to be a nin-cat.

It was much later that the three caught up to the cat. With their recent observations and the logical conclusion from the newly acquired data, they decided to forego the risk of oral communication and stuck to using hand signs. In a repeat of the first attempt, Naruto seized the cat with a blindingly-fast leap that still got his face within striking distance of the infamous claws before he held the cat safely away from his body, though his forearms still bore the brunt of feline fury. This time, however, Sasuke did not goad Naruto over the state of his face –Sasuke had learned the hard way not to belittle this particular specimen.

Throughout all of this exercise, Kakashi kept giggling not three feet behind his young charges, his nose buried in his precious orange book. No one would ever know that through judicious use of a combination of _genjutsu_ and highly focused killer intent, Kakashi had convinced the cat to flee at full speed every time the Genins approached their target. After all, Kakashi was all for proper training, and capturing the daimyo's wife's cat was an excellent field trial for their tracking skills. Surprisingly, it was Naruto who proved the most apt at following the cat, almost as if the wind itself had whispered the cat's location to the blond.

Then again, given Naruto's sniffing, it may have more to do with the enhanced sense of smell that the Kyuubi oh-so-graciously granted its landlord. After all, the pungent perfume the daimyo's wife favored was rather distinctive to Kakashi's enhanced nose. He could only assume Naruto agreed. He had considered masking the odor, but the report did supply a sample of the perfume. While Naruto may not have questioned the distance at which he should have been able to smell it, the sudden appearance (or disappearance) of the aroma would certainly have alerted Sasuke and Sakura. As such, he couldn't afford the risk.

Seeing Naruto wielding the cat as a weapon most deadly, Kakashi decided to make his appearance. "Good job catching the cat. Let's head back to the Hokage tower."

"You're LATE," screeched Naruto and Sakura, while Sasuke was annoyed enough to snort at their sensei.

"Maa, maa, a black cat kept following me, so I had to take the scenic route from the Hokage Tower to the client's house." Kakashi's eyes crinkled from his wide (though hidden) smile, casually disregarding the identical glares his three Genins sent him even as they followed him to their destination. "Enough about me. You did a good job catching the cat, but the poor creature's about to break free." Without waiting for permission from Naruto, and likely cutting off a hotheaded outburst simultaneously, Kakashi grabbed the cat from the scruff of its neck with one hand. "This is how you do it. Who wants to try?"

When Naruto saw both of his teammates shy away, Naruto couldn't resist the occasion to needle Sasuke. "Scared of a cat, Sasuke?"

"Tch. Dobe. Unlike some people, I'm not keen on performing _seppuku_ without good cause." Fortunately for Naruto, Sasuke had diverted both Sakura and Tora's attention, as he prevented an automatic collision between Naruto's head and Sakura's fist while allowing Naruto to grab the cat as Kakashi had instructed.

"Hey, this isn't _seppuku_; this is just taking one for the mission."

"As if you'd know what _seppuku_ is, baka Naruto," joined in Sakura.

"Hey! I so know what _seppuku_ is: it's when you cut up your own belly with a sword!" Of course, Naruto omitted mentioning when he'd learned about the ritual, as he doubted his teammates would be impressed if they learned how much _ninjutsu_-related vocabulary he'd acquired the day before. After all, if he'd managed to impress Sakura-chan with his knowledge, it would be rather self-defeating to admit he'd only caught up due to remedial lessons.

It was Kakashi who ended the discussion. "As enlightening as this conversation is, I believe you should show proper behavior in front of the Daimyo's wife. Naruto, are you ready?"

"Hai!"

With that out of the way, Kakashi led them up the tower through the maze of stairs sprawled throughout the building. Soon enough, they reached the Hokage's office, where they met the daimyo's wife who promptly started squeezing the cat in between her rather thick, flabby arms and ample chest even as she simultaneously smothered Tora in her triple-chin. "Oh, Tora-kun! Mommy was so scared for kitty-kitty! Were you scared? Were you hurt? Oh, poor kitty-kitty! Mommy will take good care of kitty-kitty now that kitty-kitty is back!"

Alarmed by the creaking sound coming from the cat's spine as the Daimyo's wife bounced the cat with every sentence, Naruto leaned toward Kakashi to whisper softly: "Won't that kill the cat?"

Without moving his head, Kakashi answered, "Tora is used to that, so no, it won't kill the cat."

As soon as the Daimyo's wife sauntered (or was it stampeded?) out of the room, Kakashi turned to the next item on the schedule of the day. "Hokage-sama, are there other missions left for us?"

"Hmmm." The Hokage puffed on his pipe, reviewing the missions he still had available. The vast majority were to be handed out tomorrow, since most teams had finished their rounds for today. Kakashi's squad was the sole exception, as his legendary tardiness had prevented them from starting until almost everyone else had finished with their tasks. This left the Hokage with a pile of missions of various ranks, with only a few having any relevance today. "You wanted more missions, hm? There's a building that needs painting, a lady who wishes her garden weeded, a farm that needs help, and another lady who needs someone to do her groceries. Kakashi?"

"My team will take the painting job."

* * *

And thus, one hour later, Naruto found himself with a splotch of red in his hair and numerous patches of green and violet on his jumpsuit. Not that his teammates fared any better: Sakura's face was now as pink as her hair (courtesy of Naruto bumping into the ladder from which Sasuke was painting the ceiling) and her neon green hands contrasted rather shockingly with her red dress, whereas Sasuke's pink sandals seemed as out of place as the orange spots on his shorts. Nevertheless, by some miracle, they managed to complete their mission flawlessly, and the building was properly coated with a lamina of fresh paint.

As usual, Kakashi stood off to the side, nose buried in the orange book perpetually in his hands and not a single drop of paint on him. As soon as his subordinates had finished putting back their tools, Kakashi spoke out to them.

"Good job, guys! Nice to see that we all work so hard. Let's go to the tower to get another assignment."

"Kakashi-sensei!" It was, predictably, Naruto who hollered, his indignation easily visible from his face. "Why couldn't I use the _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ to do that? It would have been faster and we wouldn't have gotten dirty!"

Kakashi snickered. His goal in accepting this mission was pushing teamwork, and facing adversity did wonders for teamwork. Otherwise, he wouldn't have tripped Naruto with a chakra-laced driveway roller pole to cause a collision with Sasuke's ladder, nor would he have pushed Sakura's paint can over with a leaf unfortunate enough to be within his grasp. Using _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ would have defeated this purpose, as well as significantly cut into his precious reading time. Of course, he couldn't mention exactly what he just did and would have to be careful how much he let slip.

However, before he could answer, Sakura's fist had once more found its resting place on Naruto's skull, incidentally spraying a few drops of red paint that forced Kakashi to use _Kawarimi no Jutsu_ to avoid dyeing his distinctive silver hair. It was surprisingly Sasuke who voiced the reason for Sakura's outburst.

"Dobe. You caused this much trouble with us around, did you really think you could do it on your own?"

"Teme! Of course I can; if you hadn't put that rolling thingy there I wouldn't have tripped!"

"Maa, maa," intervened Kakashi. After all, while it was one thing to encourage teamwork in the face of adversity, it was quite another to have an outright fight between teammates while supposedly relaxing. "Naruto has a valid point. He is hard-working, and he would have gotten this job done much faster and with less collateral painting if he'd used his _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_. I didn't allow that for the same reason I didn't help." Kakashi paused, as he wanted their attention. When Naruto was about to ask the question, Kakashi continued: "It was to help your teamwork." Kakashi let them digest his words.

Unfortunately, Naruto failed to digest anything. "How does painting help with teamwork?"

Kakashi sighed. He had hoped his students would think things through before asking him. "Anything you do as a team helps you work together more smoothly. For example, I'm sure you are now more aware of where your teammates are, even without looking. You should also get more comfortable with how each of you moves, so that in the field the three of you become one cohesive unit."

Naruto's next questions were surprisingly insightful. "Why wouldn't you work with us if it's for teamwork? You're also part of Team Seven. You just want to read your book, didn't you?"

"Naruto!" Sakura's arm was winding up, preparing for hitting Naruto yet again.

Kakashi cut her short with two words. "Of course!" When an outlandish accusation such as Naruto's was true, sometimes the best course of action would be to agree fully and with no reservation. This was particularly useful for Kakashi, as he was well-established for creating extravagantly blatant lies. Therefore, if he were to admit it as such, no one would know whether it was true or yet another lie.

"Right on both counts!" Kakashi's exuberant tone did not help, as it was also the same one he used to deliver his excuses for being late. Without losing any of his mirth, the Jonin turned towards the Hokage Tower. "Who wants more missions today?"

* * *

Deep within the bowels of Konoha, covered by a veil of darkness, a masked ninja knelt before an old man with half of his face covered in wrappings and perpetually carrying a cane. The matter of the meeting would spark a controversy landing both parties involved into Ibiki's clutches under charges of high treason if it were ever known to the regular forces of Konoha. However, Danzou was wily enough to hide his tracks from even Sarutobi, leaving the old war-hawk free to pursue what he considered the best interests of Konoha.

"Danzou-sama"

"Report, ROOT." There was no need to address the ninja by name -the ninja had no name. He was ROOT, member of various cells, but as anonymous as all other agents.

"The rumors are confirmed. Orochimaru is the head of Otogakure and intends to attack with the Kazekage sometime in the near future."

Danzou drummed his fingers against his chair while pondering the best course of action. They had only recently received word of such rumors, which showed a rather troubling hole in their information networks, networks that he had personally instated and verified against tampering. Yet this alone was not the source of Danzou's current dilemma. Instead, Danzou was deciding whether the information should be relayed to the Hokage. After all, if even his own spies had failed to report any untoward activity until very recently, the Hokage was almost guaranteed to still be in the dark. In the end, Danzou couldn't pass such an opportunity to seize more control if he could help it.

"How many ninjas are under Orochimaru's command?"

"We do not yet know."

"How far is Orochimaru's cursed seal developed?"

"We have detected a transformation into a second level. However, we are unaware how widespread this transformation is."

"How many bearers are there?"

"This number is also unknown."

Danzou once again looked pensive as he weighed the odds over and over again until he concluded that the scope of the invasion could not be accurately assessed at present: he needed at least an estimate of the enemy's forces before deciding whether his own would be necessary.

"Send in the best ROOT espionage division currently available to gauge Oto's strength. I believe you should still be able to contact squad 5 before they leave for the Daimyo's castle –tell them to cancel their previous plans if you do find them. Dismissed."

With a bow, the ROOT operative left in a _Shunshin_.

* * *

"Kakashi-san, are you sure it's alright?" The speaker was Fukurou, an old lady with a kind face.

"Hm?" Kakashi was sorely tempted to pretend he didn't hear anything, as he usually would. However, the old lady addressing him was the customer, and it probably wouldn't reflect well on his record if he were to be accused of negligence by his clients. As it was, the silver-haired Jonin decided to pretend he didn't understand the dark undercurrent in the question. "All three Genins are working hard, true, but those three should manage to do weed the garden without my help."

"I'm sure three Genins would usually be quite enough, but, uh…" The woman's voice dropped to barely a whisper. "You know what Naruto is!"

"Naruto? Of course I know what he is. He's a full-fledged Genin of Konoha! He's last-ranked and almost didn't pass his Academy graduation test, but it turns out that someone sabotaged his education. Dreadful, isn't it, that someone would want to undermine our ninjas?"

Though Kakashi didn't lift his nose from his book throughout the entire exchange and though his tone was as apathetic as ever, his words, carefully kept neutral, clearly stated his position in regards to Naruto's status. Kakashi was however paranoid enough to also shock the old lady with a small dose of killer intent.

As intended, Fukurou recoiled for but a blink of an eye before she recomposed herself. Her subsequent behavior, however, was rather more unexpected. She spent the rest of the Genins' stay harassing Naruto, never straying further than two feet away from the blond except for one brief excursion to prevent "Uchiha-sama" from removing scallions. While in the beginning this extreme supervision was rather beneficial (and indeed saved quite a considerable number of plants from being thrown away with the weeds), Naruto quickly grew tired of his self-appointed shadow. After all, Naruto was simply uneducated with regards to plants (who would have guessed that scallions and overgrown grass looked similar?), not stupid ("Yes, Fukurou-san, I know that this is weed, and no, Fukurou-san, I will not uproot those roses").

It should therefore not be surprising that before long Naruto started throwing inappropriate honorifics ("Fukurou-baachan"). When that failed to deter Fukurou and instead increased her alertness, the Jonin should have expected Naruto to revert to his _modus operandi_: plant pranks into the ground. Since Kakashi was too engrossed by his (adult) literature at one particular moment, he had not seen Naruto break for the bathroom, nor did he particularly care when Naruto called forth enough clones to fill the entire courtyard. With all of his hard-earned stealth, Naruto's clones slunk back into the courtyard even as Furukou kept her vigil over the bathroom door. When Sasuke and Sakura saw the multiple clones attacking the weeds, they simply assumed that he was taking a shortcut and focused back on their own tasks, glad for once that Kakashi wasn't supervising as closely as he should have.

As it was, it took "Fukurou-sama" shrieking about someone bombing out her "precious scallions" and leaving "that horrendous poison ivy" intact to spur Kakashi into lowering his book in favor of investigating the source of excitement. Being an experienced Jonin, he immediately saw that Naruto was removing a whole trove of useful plant while carefully avoiding all manner of weeds, much as Furukou noticed. One additional observation that Kakashi made that slipped Furukou, on the other hand, made the masked man sigh and droop his shoulders while massaging his temples in his right hand, and even Sasuke was now watching Kakashi with rapt attention.

"Naruto, please drop the _Henge no Jutsu_."

"But, Kakashi, what do you mean by dropping the _Henge no Jutsu_? Surely you're not accusing me of sabotaging my own mission, are you?"

Kakashi sighed. There was absolutely no doubt anymore, not with that too-perfect innocence positively radiating off from Naruto: this was a deliberate, planned prank, and the careful misdirection and awkward phrasing most certainly supported this hypothesis. Not that Naruto's reluctance to follow Furukou's instructions left much room for uncertainty. Sighing yet again, Kakashi relinquished his book (his _precious_! How _dare_ Naruto!) to the kunai holster only to cross his arms in front before standing his ground, tilting forward slightly in order to appear more intimidating.

"Naruto," Kakashi ground out in a no-nonsense monotone, "drop the jutsu. _Now_."

"Alright, alright. You didn't have to be so grumpy about it." Still muttering under his breath, Naruto dropped the multiple _Henge no Jutsu_, and suddenly rampaging poison ivy and the discarded scallions as well as the uprooted tulips settled into the form of Naruto, right before they pinched each other and dispersed in a large cloud of smoke. As Kakashi had suspected, Naruto had used an Academy jutsu on a mind-boggling number of shadow clones, each with a nearly-imperceptible orange stripe at the stem to differentiate the clones from the plants.

Fukurou, on the other hand, was not quite as used to _ninjutsu_, and so it was with no surprise that she fainted. Or rather, no surprise to Kakashi, as Naruto apparently believed otherwise even though he managed to keep her head from colliding soundly with the ground. "Ne, Kakashi, what's she doing on the ground?"

* * *

The three Genins found themselves in front of the Hokage once more thirty minutes later. Smoke undulating upwards from his pipe, the Sandaime frowned while listening to the mission report. "So Naruto applied a _Henge no Jutsu_ during the mission? Naruto, you should know how irresponsible that was!" The Hokage's disappointment was much more effective at dampening Naruto's spirits then Sakura's enthusiastic head-bashing. Thus, Kakashi did not find it surprising when Naruto defended his actions, though his teammates were less than enthused by his outburst.

"But old man, it was harmless! It wouldn't affect the mission at all!"

"Naruto! He's the Hokage, show him some respect."

"Tch. Dobe." As usual, Sasuke's own contribution was muttered softly, barely loud enough for Naruto to hear it.

"Teme! You don't know what it's like to have her constantly nagging at you; she probably believes the sun comes out of your a-"

"Naruto!" This time, the exclamation was reinforced by a fist magically appearing in the midst of a blond mop of hair. Sakura then used her fist to grab Naruto's hair, and held his head in place she whispered viciously into his ear. "Don't insult Sasuke-kun, and act at least a little bit civilized in front of the Hokage!"

It took the Hokage clearing his throat for the assembled Genins to settle back into some semblance of order. "Naruto, what if you had mistaken one of the plants for a clone of yours?"

"I'm not stupid! I made sure to leave an orange stripe so I would know what to do. Plus my clones also finished the work, so I just had to make sure there were no weeds without an orange stripe."

"Baka Naruto! You don't even know which were weeds and which were plants. How could you possibly finish the work so quickly?" If Sakura noticed the hypocrisy between her earlier relief at Naruto's _Kage Bunshin_ lightening their workload and her current doubts concerning Naruto's abilities, she did not show.

"Of course I knew! I had an old hag telling me that for forever when we were doing the mission. And I noticed Sasuke wasn't doing so great either: baachan also had to tell her 'Uchiha-sama' that he was pulling out scallions too!"

"Hn." Sasuke was as dismissive of Naruto's comment as ever. "As if you could hear what she said from where you were. Perhaps you should stop inventing stories and start paying attention."

'_Shannaro_,' enthused Inner Sakura while outwardly, Sakura concurred: "Naruto, you really should start taking things more seriously, if you still have time to imagine Sasuke get admonished."

The Hokage cleared his throat to draw the Genins' attention back to himself. "Kakashi, were his weeds really removed by the time he started playing this prank?"

"Naruto did a very thorough job of removing weeds and identifying his clones with an orange stripe, just as he claimed earlier."

"Very well, then. Naruto, you are hereby officially reprimanded for misleading a customer, though you will not be held accountable as you did not endanger the mission in any significant way. You are all dismissed. Kakashi, if you would stay for a bit?"

Before his charges could leave the room, Kakashi reminded them to meet on Training Ground 7 for team training at 3:00PM. Once the Genins had left the room, Kakashi turned back towards the Hokage.

"I assume you want my opinion?"

The Hokage chuckled before answering. "Yes, Kakashi. Tell me what's underneath the underneath, and tell me how the team is coming along."

"Naruto is quite skilled enough to pull off today's stunt flawlessly. To his credit, he bore Furukou-san's haggling for quite a while, even after he learned how to weed. It is my personal opinion that she's brought it on herself. In regards to the team's progress, I'm afraid that _that_'s slightly more problematic. I can tell that Naruto and Sasuke have both taken my recommendation quite seriously and have done more training than I've deemed necessary. Sakura, on the other hand, seems to have stopped as soon as she began getting winded. I suggested ten laps to start with, but she stopped at eight. Of course, today's only the first day, so I'll have to see how they develop to give a more accurate assessment. Teamwork is also coming along slowly while in the field, as Naruto is now aware of where the others are. However, as you just saw, they still squabble among each other. In particular, Naruto still gets picked upon."

The Hokage settled his chin onto clasped fingers as he reviewed the information. Even though this team managed to pass Kakashi's test, they still fell short of the other teams with respect to teamwork. Sasuke's casual dismissal of Naruto was of particular concern. "Tell me, Kakashi, did Sasuke really get scolded for pulling scallions?"

"He did almost pull out scallions at the beginning, but Fukurou-san prevented that." Kakashi's disgust dripped into his voice. "She really did call him 'Uchiha-sama', too. Really, people should be more careful about how they interpret the 'genius' moniker."

"You know why I assigned you this team, Kakashi. You are the only _Sharingan_ possessor left in the village, which is why the Council wanted you as Sasuke's Jonin-sensei. But more importantly, I don't want Sasuke to become another Orochimaru, and you are the least likely to fall into the same trap I did. I'm sure you'll do a fine job. After all, this is only the first day on missions and already Sasuke is speaking more than in the Academy."

As the Sandaime paused, Kakashi added a disclaimer. "I'm afraid Naruto has more to do with that than I did, as I'm sure you're aware."

"Heh. That kid does wonders, doesn't he? How are his remedial classes going, by the way?"

Kakashi lifted an eyebrow in question while scrutinizing the Hokage's face. "I'm afraid Ebisu-san's the one giving him those classes and I didn't have extensive contact with him prior to the lessons."

"Yes, yes, but I'm also suspect that you're even better placed than Ebisu is at assessing Naruto's progress from the reports you've seen."

Kakashi took his time to compose his thoughts before answering. "His vocabulary seems markedly improved. While he isn't actively using his entire lexicon, he can at least understand us without struggling. I have noticed strange things about him, though." Seeing the Hokage's interest, Kakashi continued: "His _Kage Bunshins_ disperse with slightly more force than most do. It's not quite on the level of Itachi's _Bunshin Bakuha_, but it seems as though Naruto's clones are molded with a trace of some elemental chakra."

Few could master the _Bunshin Bakuha no Jutsu_ as well as Itachi did, as doing so required incorporating Earth or Fire Element chakra into a regular _Kage Bunshin_, thus requiring an increase in both complexity and sheer power output. If Naruto was working on such a variant of the _Kage Bunshin_ this early in his training, he could well be on his way to becoming a legend on the scale of the Yondaime, or perhaps achieve even greater skills. Unfortunately, it was highly unlikely that Naruto did so consciously, which the Hokage pointed out.

"I believe that Naruto is not yet advanced enough to control chakra into doing such an intricate operation, as I fear he may not even know enough theory to understand the nature of chakra, much less predict the outcome of tagging clones with elemental chakra. What is your assessment?"

"I agree. Even with a rapid improvement on the academic side, I don't think it's enough for attempting something of this magnitude. If I hadn't popped his clones out of existence myself, I probably wouldn't even believe he'd be able to do that."

"Oh, I believe it alright." The Sandaime smiled as he remembered some of Naruto's achievements. "By the way, which element do you think is his?"

Kakashi hesitated, replaying the relevant event in his head. "I'm not entirely sure because it was too weak for clear identification, but I think it was wind. There was just the slightest cutting edge from the smoke; not enough to actually cut anything, but just enough to be felt."

"Wind, eh? Interesting." The Hokage leaned back into his office chair and lit his pipe before remembering he had yet to dismiss Kakashi. "Oh, is there anything else you wanted to report?"

"That would be all, Hokage."

"Well then, thank you for accommodating this old man."

"By your leave, Hokage." Seeing his leader nod, Kakashi left the room with a _Shunshin no Jutsu_, teleporting back home to get some reading done.

* * *

The Genins were becoming frustrated two hours later. It was now 6:00PM and they had had enough of of waiting, of enduring their sensei's tardiness. Even Naruto with his loyal book still at his side had run out of things to do, as he'd finished his reading barely half an hour ago. He'd spent some time afterwards discussing potential books for future reference with Sakura. That particular event had only taken fifteen minutes and as few as three bumps on his head.

Though the pink-haired Genin would never admit it, she was impressed by Naruto's scholastic growth. Barely a month ago, he would have been unable to name the Five Great Shinobi Nations, much less their capitals. By now, he was able to list major clans in each as well as outline the basic political system of the five major Hidden Villages. In addition, he knew all of Konoha's allies and most of the other minor nations as well and could recite the capital of each one.

What had earned him the first of the three bops, however, was requesting her to teach him about chakra. As if she couldn't see through his ploy to spend more time with her! His second mechanical cranial trauma came when he asked her whether knew of any beginner's books on chakra. Of course she did, she was _Sakura_! Or so her Inner Self screeched, until she tried giving him recommendations. After opening and closing her mouth in a rather unladylike manner while running through the long list of scrolls and manuscripts she had read, she managed to remember a book more advanced than the Academy-issued one, yet basic enough even Naruto could follow. Naruto had thanked "Sakura-chaaan!", and was about to run off to sneak to the library until Sakura's fist met the top of Naruto's skull for the third time since the conversation started. They were still waiting for Kakashi!

And thus they found themselves sitting in the shade of trees, quietly waiting for their chronically late sensei. Naruto was reviewing his conversation with Sakura-chan, for once able to walk away from such an occurrence relatively injury-free and entirely conscious while Sakura reflected on how her attempts at being nice to Naruto let her know her blond teammate better –and that he wasn't always quite so dense, after all. Sasuke, on the other hand, was reflecting on much darker matters: how did Naruto hear from so far away? And how did Naruto manage to find Tora? Though he would never admit as such even on pain of death, Sasuke was shrewd enough to recognize his teammates' abilities and to manipulate them to his own advantage. The only problem with such a scenario, however, was that neither of his teammates was strong enough to face Itachi by his side, and neither was likely to become strong quickly enough to be of use. As such, he didn't wish to rely on their abilities.

It was then that Kakashi deigned to make his appearance. He had watched Naruto's interaction with Sakura and was rather pleased with the result, even despite the three injuries Naruto sustained. He also observed Sasuke shoot dark glances at Naruto, yet these did not seem to suggest ill will. Instead, Kakashi interpreted as an acknowledgement of sorts: it seems Sasuke had recognized Naruto's superior senses as an asset to the team, however implicit and grudging the admission may have been. The silver-haired Jonin decided to reward this improvement in their relations by giving them an easy training exercise.

"Yo!"

"You're _LATE_!" Once again, Naruto and Sakura showed perfect coordination when it came to decrying their sensei's tardiness.

"I was lost on the road of life, so I had to take a detour before coming here."

Naruto, as usual, showed his uncanny knack for noticing the obvious. "Huh? How can that be true? And how does that explain anything?"

"Never mind that. Today, you'll be doing your first teamwork training. I'll give you a list of aliases for all three of you. The object of the exercise is to go through all of the aliases. As I'm sure you've noticed, I brought two chairs along for this bonding activity. You will start by trying to sit on the chair. The person still standing will have to call one of the aliases and the person called will have to stand. You may only call each alias once, and then it has to be the next on the list. Everyone got that?"

"Ne, Kakashi, what happens if we call a wrong name? Or stand up when it's someone else's turn?"

"Ah, Naruto, that's a good question. If that happens, you'll fail this exercise, and I'll be giving you the next sheet. The names there are longer and more awkward, though, so I'm sure you'll want to get this right in one shot. Any other questions? No? Alright, so here's the list; you each have one minute to memorize it."

And thus, Kakashi watched as Sakura first memorized it, reviewed it in her head, and compared her memorized list with that on the paper. He knew this should be an easy exercise for her and thus was not surprised when she handed the list to Sasuke barely fifteen seconds later. Sasuke was even faster: he took a glance at the paper and threw it to Naruto along with a call of "Dobe". Naruto, however, took the full minute mumbling under his breath. Kakashi was almost tempted to wait until three minutes had passed, thereby giving Naruto more time to memorize. However, ninjas would often be expected to learn information quickly and reliably. As a result, Kakashi decided that one minute would be enough.

"Alright, Naruto, your minute has passed. Now, start!"

As expected, the three Genin scrambled for the chairs. Sasuke and Sakura both reached the chairs before Naruto did, which was expected, given their starting positions. Kakashi was now curious to see how long Naruto would last before he would run out of aliases. In truth, the objective of this exercise was to get Sakura and Sasuke to help out Naruto, rather than being only a test of memory. Hopefully, the Genins would see 'underneath the underneath'.

"Whiskers."

"Dobe. That's you! My first alias is 'Emo'."

"Teme! Of course I know that! But Kakashi never said that we couldn't call our own aliases, and if we don't call all three of us equally someone would have to do that anyways. So I just memorized my own names first, and then as much from you guys as I could." Kakashi was impressed: Naruto had followed the train of thought to its logical conclusion and saw one of the loopholes, though not the intended one. In addition, Sasuke also helped teamwork by noting how Kakashi had omitted mention of 'cheating', which was intended. Once again, this team had passed another one of his tests. "So, Natrou, Orange, Trunoa, Loud, Rauton, Annoying, Tunrao, Goofball, Climbeie, Pranks, Oobfloroanoge, Tracker, Stredamwin, Shadow, Riujukinich, Oturan, Pinkie."

Hearing her name, Sakura stood up while Naruto sat down. The rest of the exercise went smoothly, and Kakashi congratulated them at the end. "There were two elements that you had to notice: one was that it is possible for one person to have to call himself or herself, and the other was that I didn't mention anything about helping your teammates. You've noticed both of those points. Now, tomorrow, let's meet at 8:00AM at the Hokage Tower to get our missions. That's it for today." And with a _Shunshin_, Kakashi disappeared.

"Ne, Sakura-chan, the book was called 'Chakra: the Essence of a Ninja' by MN, right?"

Though Sakura was sorely tempted to hit Naruto for his stupidity, she reminded herself that at least he had remembered the name correctly. "Yes, Naruto, that is the book I recommended."

"Thanks, Sakura-chan!" With that, Naruto sped off to the library, leaving Sakura and Sasuke alone on the field.

* * *

When Naruto met with Ebisu that evening, he showed his book proudly. Ebisu was rather surprised: this was exactly what he'd have suggested next. "That book is very appropriate for your level. Come to think of it, perhaps I could just give you the entire set now. Where did you get this anyway?"

"I, ah, uh, snuck into the library to take this out."

A vein started throbbing just above Ebisu's sunglasses. "Did you steal from the library?"

"Huh? No, of course I didn't! It's just that they won't let me get in or borrow any books, so whatever I need I'll take it the ninja way, and I also return it the ninja way."

"Oh. I see. Well, remind me to give you the whole set tonight and you can return that tomorrow. Now, let's see, we did the basic stances yesterday. Today, we will go through the standard Academy _taijutsu_ forms and tomorrow we'll go through mnemonic methods. But before we get to that, have you finished the three scrolls?"

"I'm at the second one, the one about ninja rules and stuff. But I looked at the third, and it's pretty much covered by that book on geopolitical stuff."

"Indeed it is."

"Why read the scrolls, then, if the books go into more detail and cover everything anyways?"

"Why, you ask? Well, the scrolls give you the essentials quickly. Do you go through introductory texts before going to the advanced ones, or do you just start with the most detailed and complex textbook you can find? Of course you start things simple. That way you'll have a firm foundation. Likewise, reading the scroll is like going over an overview before going in detail; that way you know where everything fits in the big picture. Now, about that scroll. The code of ninja conduct is more of a guideline than actual rules, even if the Council Elders would have you believe otherwise. How far along are you?"

"Just the third page. Meh, Kakashi was really late today."

If Ebisu was perplexed by the non-sequitur, he didn't show it. "I see. So what do you think of the rule about not drawing attention to yourself unless necessary or expedient?"

"It sorta makes sense, I guess. That way you don't need to use stealth all the time. Why are you asking?"

"Because the orange jumpsuit you always wear is not exactly inconspicuous."

"Aw, not you too! What's wrong with orange anyways?" Ebisu would have gladly answered that, but Naruto kept going. "Iruka-sensei always kept getting on my case because I'm wearing orange, but I like orange! It's the best color in the world, a gift from the Gods themselves, the very best thing in the whole world next to ramen! Why won't anybody see it that way?"

Ebisu was taken aback by Naruto's passion, for some reason almost seeing Gai expounding on the virtues of the "flames of youth". Shaking his head to rid himself of the unwanted image, Ebisu answered: "The reason is that orange is quite visible, and the shade of orange you're wearing particularly so. It would almost akin painting a target on yourself: you would attract the enemy's attention. While that may sometimes be advisable, it is usually not the case. After all, we are not to draw attention unless necessary or expedient, right?"

"I guess. But I'm still gonna wear orange! I'll just use better stealth tactics."

"By which I assume you'll hide your orange jumpsuit. So why not just wear some other color when you're on missions?"

"Because then I'd be betraying orange!"

"Why do you think orange is 'the best color in the world, a gift from the Gods themselves'? I'm not saying it is not," Ebisu hastened to add when he saw Naruto's face darken. After all, he'd had the displeasure of trying to contradict Gai about the 'flames of youth'. He had no desire to repeat a similar experience. "It is just an… unusual choice, so I am interested in your history with the color."

"Oh, that? One day I found an orange jumpsuit for me during the Kyuubi festival. Usually, people leave dead foxes on my doorstep for some reason –actually, now I know why, but I didn't back then. But anyways, one day I found that wrapped properly and left on my doorstep, and my old tee-shirt was falling apart anyways, so I wore it. And it helped draw the attention of everyone when I wore it, so it's gotta be the best color in the world! After all, it's orange!"

"Hmm, I see." And indeed, Ebisu could easily guess why the boy was so attached to _that_ particular color. Yet as his remedial tutor, Ebisu believed it his duty to wean Naruto from such cumbersome dressing habits. "What to do, then? Well, in that case, I'd suggest you wear orange _underneath_ your ninja attire. That way, you would not be betraying orange, and you would not need to expend as much effort for stealth. On top of that, you maygo back to wearing orange as soon as you're out of your ninja duties. What do you think of that?"

"I guess it could work. But between waiting for Kakashi in the morning and actually doing ninja work in the afternoon, I won't have time to get new clothes."

"You have got a point there." Ebisu had to forcibly bite his tongue to prevent himself from suggesting the easy solution: arrive three hours after the designated time and offer Kakashi a blatant excuse if the latter miraculously arrived less than three hours late. "Tell you what, how about I buy some clothes and you pay me back later?"

"You'd do that for me?" Seeing Ebisu nod, Naruto let out a blinding smile that nearly split his face in half. "Thanks, Ebisu! You're the coolest sensei ever! Well, actually, Iruka's pretty nice too; he buys me ramen, though he always complains about his wallet afterwards."

Ebisu cleared his throat to collect however much attention Naruto could gather. "Right. Now that that is done with, we will go through the basic Academy katas, and if that goes well enough, we will practice the standard _taijutsu_ styles. How does that sound?"

* * *

By the time Naruto stepped back in his apartment, all he could do was flop down onto his couch –good thing he put a sheet there this morning! Ebisu had mercilessly gone through each and every kata in the span of a measly hour rather than the usual two weeks reserved in the Academy. After that, they had gone through the basic scenarios and strategies hidden in the katas. Ebisu had complimented his quick uptake of the new material, even though Naruto felt off-kilter with the new katas. While he was more balanced and he could now put his weight behind the motions, he felt unfamiliar with this new paradigm, and he had no doubt it would show if he ever used it before he rid himself of his old habits. At least, he was now comfortable with the stances he learned yesterday.

As his eyelids closed, an image of a Kyuubi settled in a four-legged version of the _kiba-dachi_ flickered across his vision before sleep overtook his consciousness.

* * *

Naruto found himself waking to the a disturbingly familiar pattern in the ceiling and with his body slumped in a rather awkward position. When the ability to think came back online, Naruto cursed himself. Now he'd have to wash out his sofa to get rid of the smell (again!), as he hadn't showered before sleeping for the fifth time in a single week. As it was, his muscles were groaning to protest the strain he'd forecd on them. Naruto certainly did not relish the thought of going through ten laps around Konoha while wearing increased weights.

Naruto also remembered the awkward pauses he'd observed when practicing the katas Ebisu had shown him, even after a week since he'd memorized the proper sequence: should he stretch himself to reach the opponent, or should he step in? Should he shift left or forward? Should he kick downward or should he fall back? Should he place his foot facing inward or outward?

The only way to really learn these movements was to go through them thoroughly; this much Naruto knew and admitted to himself. Yet he couldn't find the time to do so: he had to go running in the mornings in case Kakashi checked, and that leaf floatation exercise was really quite a waste of time. Naruto's leaves would either stick to his hands or fly off completely, no matter how long Naruto spent working on it. In a stroke of genius, Naruto decided to try a different strategy this morning: combine running with the leaf floatation exercise!

Now motivated, Naruto ate his customary portion of ramen before preparing himself. First he strapped on the weights and then he set out to gather enough leaves. Once he was ready, he started running. One flaw with his training scheme became immediately obvious: doing the leaf control exercise while running was much more difficult then each exercise would be individually. After running across half the perimeter of Konoha, Naruto discovered that running with the low crouch and near-shuffling motions of the _taijutsu_ stances and katas would decrease the bouncing motion typically associated with running, thus making the chakra control exercise much easier. While this greatly increased chakra draw and physical exertion, the end result was a much smoother (and faster!) run.

On his third lap around Konoha, Naruto observed that both of the exercises were getting closer to completion: he was travelling with less effort while the leaves were much more stable on his hands, flitting at the correct space for nearly a full secong before being ejected outside Naruto's range of vision. However, the rest of the run was much less fruitful. As it was, he was drenched but proud of his accomplishment. After all, he managed to improve his chakra control much further today than he had the previous week. Perhaps he really should try more challenging exercises, as Ebisu had suggested.

When Naruto looked at the time as he finished the last lap, he was surprised to see that it was, in fact, less than thirty minutes. Sasuke had managed to qualify for individual instruction by Kakashi four days prior, but if Naruto could hold the leaf in place, he still wouldn't be too far behind. Reminded once more of being inferior to the Uchiha, that smug, know-it-all Uchiha, Naruto heaved the leaves into the air in exasperation before deciding to attempt the exercise with the leaves in the air.

Naruto was quite surprised to notice that he could indeed hold the leaves in place if they were farther from his hands. After whooping with joy, Naruto slowly reduced his chakra output until he could control the leaves to stay in place barely an inch from his palms. Naruto set about to work on the strange scroll Kakashi had given them, glad to have completed the leaf floatation exercise at last. Apparently, Naruto's landlord would never again charge him for electricity, if Kakashi's calculations were correct. All he needed to do was to mold chakra to pour it continuously into the battery until it was full. An additional seal would take care of the initial conversion of chakra into electricity, thus allowing the scroll to be used as an electric battery.

As Naruto let his chakra flow smoothly out of his palm, he reflected on the events of the past week. His lessons with Ebisu had now covered the entire material covered by the Academy. While his _taijutsu_ skills were still below average for an Academy graduate, they were at least passable. It would take much more work before he could consider himself an acceptable _taijutsu_ fighter, but at least he was no longer a clumsy brawler anymore. His _genjutsu_, on the other hand, was deemed hopeless even by Ebisu. Where he really shined, though, was his _ninjutsu_. He seemed to have a knack of picking them up. Of course, it did help that he'd seen the jutsus earlier in the Academy but simply never had the chance to learn them correctly.

Much to Naruto's dismay, Ebisu had abandoned him the previous day. Indeed, the Hokage had only requested Ebisu to cover the Academy material, which Ebisu had done and in some cases (such as when addressing chakra elements) exceeded. Yet Naruto had felt a bond form with the special Jonin and therefore felt betrayed when his evening sensei terminated their classes. The latter had profusely apologized, claiming that it was now the job of his regular Jonin-sensei to further his skills and that pursuing any further would be an insult to Kakashi. Naruto doubted Kakashi would be insulted but still accepted Ebisu's point as a valid argument.

None of this discussion, however, could dispel the sense of loss, especially after Ebisu had complimented him as "an exceptional shinobi destined for greatness". As it was, Ebisu still left him with the collection of reading material for starting shinobi as a gift. Naruto had nearly finished the volume discussing chakra and its properties. Because of his preoccupation over mastering the leaf exercise Kakashi had assigned them, he had spent less time reading it than the first book.

Since there wouldn't be enough left to last the long wait their tardy sensei imposed on them, Naruto resolved to finish it before bringing the next one to the team's meeting place. Thinking of the team invariably brought a frown to his face: Kakashi was still just as late, and the missions were still boring, menial tasks undeserving of ninja participation. So far, they'd been assigned laundry, baby-sitting, mowing, replacing window and countless other pointless duties. At least one person self-assigned the task of making Naruto's life as miserable as possible in each and every case, much as Fukurou had done. However, Naruto had learned his lesson and relegated his pranks to untraceable ones.

Naruto brought himself back to his reading with a sigh. Cursing about crazy old 'baa-chans sticking their noses into places it didn't belong' wouldn't help further his career. Reading, on the other hand, might serve as a welcome distraction. Now settled comfortably into his couch, Naruto flipped open to continue reading.

Though this was Ebisu's book, Naruto resolved to thank Sakura-chan for her recommendation. This book really did cover much that was previously dark territory for Naruto. For instance, he had been rather shocked when he learned of the destructive potential of the Wind Element, and scoffed at himself for dismissing the _Kaze no Teisei_ as "weak". He could now understand why that technique might be a prized one for any Wind users who may master it. After all, Wind users were typically restricted to short- and mid-range attacks. This, on the other hand, not only allowed long-ranged attacks, but also enabled the user to work around obstacles. In conjunction with the spying abilities, such a technique would be invaluable. Naruto made a note to return to learning the technique whenever he could schedule it. After all, he would need to include time to let the Kyuubi repair his eardrums if he pierced them again, should he still fail to master the technique.

* * *

Naruto _still_ hadn't managed to perform the technique in the month since his resolution. On the upside, practicing the _Kaze no Teisei_ had considerably enhanced both his chakra control and the speed with which he formed seals. Repeatedly bursting one's eardrums, on the other hand, was not a particularly pleasant experience. If Naruto were truthful enough, he would admit that he was quite annoyed enough to give up on the technique. Naruto's defining trait, however, was stubbornness rather than self-understanding. Therefore, he walked once more into the clearing and formed the required handseals to execute the _Kaze no Teisei_.

As happened countless times before, his ears throbbed with pain and the world started revolving in every which way. Naruto had long since learned how to ignore the dizziness and was busy thinking of other alternatives to learning the _Kaze no Teisei_. He had decreased his chakra output to the very minimum amount he could still control, yet the jutsu still mercilessly destroyed his ears. The improvement was rather notable: rather than bursting the inner ear in a miniature but gory explosion, the eardrums were now still structurally intact. However, it was still not ready for use, as Naruto still suffered from severe disorientation. If only Naruto could output even less chakra, or direct the excitation of the chakra, or increase the resistance of the medium…

A figurative light bulb lit up Naruto's entire world. Of course he could increase the resistance of the medium: that was the very principle behind practicing _taijutsu_ underwater! When Kakashi had taken him to practice his forms submerged, it had felt sluggish. Even chakra expenditure into water was slow, much slower than on solid ground. This was exactly what he needed. Now, all Naruto had to do was to wait for his ears to stop ringing quite so loudly before he tackled the problem from a different angle. Since he would have to waste time getting to the river stream on the other side of the training grounds, Naruto decided to head there even as his vestibular system continued to sort itself out.

Naruto plunged completely into the pond as soon as he noticed the lack of complaint from his ears and set about to initiate the jutsu. As before, he molded a tiny portion of his chakra and let it dissipate into the surrounding water. To his surprise, the chakra did not diffuse very far, and moved rather sluggishly. After a long while, Naruto had had enough of waiting for the proper distribution of chakra. He cancelled the technique and resurfaced for a much needed gulp of air before settling down once more underwater. This time, he forced his chakra further out rather than allow it to expand naturally.

The results were immediate: even without consciously dampening the excitation associated with handseals, Naruto could feel how the response was much thinner than it usually was. When he released the attack, the awaited backlash did not happen. Instead, rocks far away were shredded and the water in the vicinity bubbled with activity. Naruto almost inhaled a lungful of water, giddy as he was with his success. And indeed he had cause, for he finally performed the _Kaze no Teisei_ for the very first time_._ Even more importantly, he now understood why his previous attempts were unsuccessful: his chakra was still much too concentrated for the jutsu to work.

Now, if only he could control the destination…

* * *

Naruto was becoming frustrated yet again. This time, the source of his ire was not a recalcitrant technique but rather the incessantly boring missions Kakashi had procured them. At the beginning, though the jobs were easy and the clients obnoxious, at least he was learning some new skills along the way. For instance, milking cows turned out to be a much more difficult proposition than he had anticipated as cows tended to panic in his presence. Replacing windows was also an eye-opener: who would have guessed Sakura had such a strong reaction to fungus-covered window frames?

But after the first few days, even these silly details failed to amuse him anymore. The sheer monotony of the tasks (moving furniture, replacing tiles, working at construction sites, etc.) had threatened to break his spirit, and only his renewed interest in learning the _Kaze no Teisei_ had prevented an outburst. However, it had been a week since he'd finally managed to unleash the technique to the intended tree nearly 100 yards away, though he neglected to critically evaluate the preparation time required prior to launching the technique. As a result, he no longer had an appropriate distraction. Even worse, the cat of the daimyo's wife, Tora, was now actively belligerent toward them, and Kakashi's Genins were also getting irritated by Tora in return. Naruto had had _enough_!

"Currently relevant missions are: getting Fukurou-san's groceries, preparing a party for Eiriasu-san, installing a fence for Kinrui-san, paint a house for Yotei-san, retrieving Tora-…"

"With your permission, Hokage-sama, we'll take Tora-…"

"No!" Naruto's declaration had interrupted Kakashi, who gazed curiously at Naruto with his single visible eye.

"Naruto, I'm the one deciding which missions we take, and I say we take a D-rank mission. Or more precisely, the D-rank mission to retrieve the cat of the Daimyo's wife."

"No, absolutely not. We can do a C-rank, I know we can. Right, Sakura-chan, teme?"

"Naruto! If Kakashi wants us to take Tora, that's what we'll do." As usual, Sakura was a stickler for rules. Except that she, too, was annoyed by the stream of D-rank missions. "But, come to think of it, since the issue was brought up, Genins are also allowed to take C-ranks, right? Why haven't we?"

It was the Hokage who answered. "C-rank missions often require some diplomatic skills or some fighting against untrained opponents. In order to qualify for a C-rank mission, the team must have completed at least ten D-rank missions, though no Genin team has ever done a C-rank with so little experience."

"Yes, we know all that," interrupted Naruto. "And we usually expect up to mid-Chunin-level enemies in B-ranks, and single Jonins in A-ranks. We all know that!"

The Hokage harrumphed before continuing. "The ability of any Genin team to perform higher-ranked missions such as the C-rank you request is left to the discretion of the Jonin-sensei. Kakashi, do you wish a C-rank mission for your team?"

Kakashi had been spying his team's reactions while the Hokage ensured they were aware of what the implications of their request. It seemed Ebisu had been successful in educating Naruto, though a modification in his attire was yet to be observed despite Ebisu's best attempts otherwise. Sakura also seemed eager for some change, though she wasn't nearly as adamant as Naruto. Sasuke tried to hide his emotions, though Kakashi could tell from the telltale twitch in his right eye and the stiff posture that even Sasuke wished for a C-rank.

While their individual skills could still be improved, especially Sakura's, their current abilities should be sufficient for a field trial. On the other hand, their teamwork was still rather strained, though a C-rank mission may be just the perfect remedy to that problem. "I'm not sure. Which C-ranks are available?"

"There's a mission to escort a bridge builder to Wave Country and protect him while he finishes a bridge, a mission to…"

"I believe my team is ready for the mission to Wave Country."

Smiling softly at the whoops of joy erupting from a certain blond, the Hokage handed Kakashi the assignment. "If you'll wait here, I'll call in the bridge builder." Seeing Kakashi nod in confirmation, the Hokage yelled: "Bring in Tazuna!"

An old man slid the door open, hanging onto the wall to prevent falling down while downing the remnants from a bottle of beer in a single swig. Unkempt hair poked through the battered hat he wore, much as the tip of a bottle of liquor stashed inside a vest pocket was visible through a hole in his jacket. His pants were frayed at the edge, showing dirty feet atop barely holding sandals. "I'm the super bridge builder Tazuna and you all have to protect me with your lives super hard. Hey, I paid super good money; why do I get stupid kids? I'm a super important person, I need super protection! They're just a bunch of brats, especially the idiot in orange."

While the others present in the room were still deciphering hiccup- and burp-littered message, Naruto was immediate in his vociferation. "Hey! I'm no idiot; I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'll be Hokage, just you watch! Show some respect!"

"I'll show respect when you stop looking like an idiot, you idiot!"

"Hah! As if that'd make you any smarter, insulting the one who'll be protecting you."

"Hmph! As if you would be able to protect me! You're just an idiot _gaki_ playing ninja."

By then, Kakashi had managed to get used to Tazuna's slurred speech. "Naruto, we're professional ninjas. You're not helping your cause by getting involved in a shouting match with our client, who we have to respect. And Tazuna, I assure you that these three are qualified to fulfill the functions listed in the mission scroll. They'll have no trouble protecting you within the parameters you outlined even if you keep insulting one of us."

"But I paid super good money for this! Isn't there any… more mature and experienced ninjas you could assign me?"

Before Naruto could take offense, the Hokage intervened. "You have detailed that you do not expect ninjas to attack you." The Hokage paused, seeing Tazuna squirm. However, as it was obvious that the client would not explain his unease, the Hokage resumed speaking. "As such, even if they do look like normal children, each one of them is expected to be able to hold off about fifty armed but untrained men on their own, and the three together should be able to hold at least two hundred. Even if the number exceeds that, you still have nothing to fear, as Kakashi is present. Therefore, unless other ninjas come into play, I give you my personal word that these three will be more than sufficient to fulfill the mission parameters. Lying about mission parameters is a serious criminal offense, and not something that you would do, right?"

Tazuna remained skeptical of the Genins' worth, though he refrained from further comments. Instead, much to the Hokage's disappointment, the bridge builder replied: "Of course not. I just hope that the blond idiot knows he's supposed to risk everything for me."

After silencing Naruto's stillborn protests at the latest dig, the Hokage stared at Tazuna hard enough for the latter to start to start fidgeting. However, it was clear that whatever troubles there may be would not be shared. Thus, the Hokage dismissed the audience, and the Genins left to prepare for the journey to Wave Country while the bridge builder retreated to the nearest pub. Kakashi, however, still had business to attend to.

"How do you interpret his behavior, Hokage-sama?"

"He seems very afraid of whatever threats are after him, that much is clear. I believe there may be ninjas after him, though he was too drunk for me to be certain. What was your take?"

"I agree, it seems like there's something fishy, but his behavior was too erratic to pinpoint the cause. I'll keep an eye out for trouble. If that is all, Hokage?"

"Actually, I would like an update on Naruto's progress."

"Ah, that. His _taijutsu_ is slowly improving. It is now clearly above the average Academy graduate, though nothing spectacular and certainly below par for a full-fledged Genin. He is hopeless when it comes to _genjutsu_: he still can't cast even the _Bunshin no Jutsu_. However, he is adequate at detecting and dispelling _genjutsu_. In terms of chakra control, he is about at Sasuke's level, perhaps a tad lower. His reserves, if anything, seem to have grown much faster than any other ninja's, though I suspect that may be due to the Kyuubi's influence rather than active training. What worries me, though, is that he's the only one who hasn't pushed me to teach him _ninjutsu_. I believe he's spending his time patching up his academic knowledge, even though I believe the remedial training covered that quite sufficiently."

"Have you offered teaching him a jutsu?"

"No, I haven't." Kakashi's face contorted briefly in a moue before settling back to its normal impassivity. "I suppose perhaps I could offer all three of them a jutsu to see if Naruto would be interested."

"You… haven't taught them _any_ jutsu?"

Though the words and the tone were intimidating, Kakashi could read from the Hokage's posture that he was merely incredulous. Therefore, Kakashi felt no shame with his answer. "I was driving their basics as far as they would allow it before throwing them a few jutsu. After all, once jutsus are involved, Genins tend to forget that the number of jutsus won't increase their core strength."

"And how exactly were you determining the limit to decide when to start teaching them jutsus?" This time, the Sandaime was slightly more menacing.

"I initially wanted to wait for all three of them to ask me, as I thought that would occur early on. I'd start teaching them tree-walking and water-walking before moving into anything more complex. When that didn't occur, I decided to just wait for Naruto to start pestering me. But then even Sakura's asked me for a _genjutsu_, while Naruto hasn't shown any initiative in learning new jutsu."

Fortunately for Kakashi, his explanation was enough to mollify the Sandaime. "I see. What have you taught them so far?"

"I've had them run laps around Konoha with moderate weights, float leaves above their hands and practice their _taijutsu_ forms underwater. Basic material, but Naruto's just recently gotten down the Academy _taijutsu_ forms."

"I see. I suspect you'll have time to teach them new material during this trip. Even though it's generally not advisable to train ninjas while outside the village, I suppose, as a former ANBU captain, you should be able to tell when it would be safe to do so. Just don't let any of the others know I've given you permission."

"Understood. With your permission?"

"Of course, of course. Good day!"


	6. Ch5 Wave Country

The next morning found Kakashi's team and their client assembled at the Gate, ready to depart but for one member -Kakashi himself. Naruto had decided to dress in a more stealthy brown in deference to Ebisu's suggestion and though there were still more touches of muted orange than anyone could possibly care to cout, the unusual attire earned him many half-hearted snickers and taunts from his teammates. Eventually, they tired of this amusement and went back to sleeping until their sensei arrived, leaving the blond free to entertain himself without their distraction.

Naruto yawned while opening his newest book, one introducing _taijutsu _concepts. It was surprisingly helpful to Naruto as it went into details that not even Ebisu had covered. For instance, while he had learned from his remedial training that _taijutsu_ had three main aspects which could not be neglected (speed, precision and force), this MN mentioned how various standard strategies and combinations mixed the different aspects. In the _Goken _style, extreme speed and force were necessary, whereas precision was only a concern insofar as the user remained able to intercept incoming attacks and hit their targets' central axes. By contrast, the exclusive _Jyuuken _style used by Hyuugas went to the opposite extreme, replacing physical force entirely with chakra surges while focusing attacks by viciously striking tenketsus. The Uchiha's _Taka_ style was perhaps the most balanced of the three, requiring extreme precision even while pushing strength and speed to a level comparable to that of the _Goken_.

Fascinating though the text was, Naruto had been reading it for several hours already and noticed his mind wandering away. He had taken to the habit of combining different aspects of training together ever since he attempted the leaf floatation exercise while running, and he found his concentration faltering without a sufficiently taxing workload to occupy his short attention span. To remedy the problem, Naruto started listing his own progress.

He still couldn't apply the _Kaze no Teisei _while running. If Naruto were honest with himself, he would admit that the technique was currently rather useless to him, as he needed absolute concentration and stillness while spreading the chakra to an acceptable density. While those requirements were not enough to prevent proper use in combat, the fifteen minutes during which Naruto "listened" to the chakra feedback before it stabilized was a period no enemy was likely to ever grant him.

However, Naruto cheerfully ignored such considerations and was happy to now have two "kick-ass jutsus." He was therefore temporarily satisfied with his _ninjutsu_ arsenal and devoted his energy to improving _taijutsu_ and _genjutsu_ instead. While he limited his progress in _genjutsu_ to detecting and dispelling illusions expediently, he wanted a more thorough understanding of _taijutsu_. Thus, here he was, immersed in yet another book. Or at least, that was the intention.

"Gaki, reading those won't help a baka like you. I mean, you probably don't even know half the words in there and you wouldn't know how to use whatever you learn even if you did by some miracle understand the words."

"Why, you… I'll show you what I learned, you filthy..."

For the nth time since the crack of dawn, Sakura had to physically restrain Naruto from murdering their client. While Naruto may have enjoyed the close proximity to his Sakura-chan if he were aware of it, Sasuke's next taunt drove all reason from his mind.

"Hn. Tazuna's correct: if even Sakura is able to stop you, you really have no hope of learning any half-decent _taijutsu_."

This time, Sakura was hurt enough to slacken her arms, allowing Naruto to lunge at Sasuke in blind fury. Luckily, both boys were able to escape injury when Kakashi interposed himself between them, holding them at bay with an index on each _hitai-ate_.

"Maa, maa, we haven't even started yet. Why don't the two of you reserve your energy for the trip?"

Surprisingly, it was Sasuke who ground out the next word. "Kakashi!"

"Yo!"

"You're _late_. Again." Whereas Naruto and Sakura both expressed themselves by sheer volume, Sasuke emphasized his point with a cold tone and by leaking the slightest bit of killer intent.

"Yes, I do believe I am. Congratulations on your observation; I'm sure it required almost as much effort as telling me I'm late. Now, if everyone's ready?"

Tazuna, who was not used to Kakashi's antics, face-faulted. An interested ninja would have been able to discern some mumbling, and an observant one would have heard something akin to "Was he supposed to be the mature and responsible one?" However, as neither interested nor observant ones were nearby, Tazuna's pleas for a better team leader drifted off in the air without ever receiving acknowledgement. As he laid on the ground, the alcohol he ingested over the previous days caught up to him and knocked him out.

It was finally Naruto who noticed their missing client. "Ne, Kakashi, wasn't the old man supposed to be with us?"

"Why, yes Naruto, he was indeed supposed to be with us. It seems you are just as observant as Sasuke. Would you be interested in rectifying the situation?" Kakashi's eye-smile corresponded with his jovial tone, yet none of the Genins were fooled.

"You just want me to carry that smelly flea-bag, don't you? Fine!"

With a harrumph, Naruto retraced his steps to carry Tazuna over his shoulder much as one would a sack of rice. None of the others offered their assistance, as they had learned while helping a store owner relocate that neither of Naruto's teammates could match the blond in terms of sheer stamina. Once everyone was finally set, Kakashi's team departed from Konoha, and they were in the forest surrounding the outskirts of the Hidden Village before long.

* * *

Four hours later, Kakashi's group had to pause yet again.

"Dammit, old man, why can't you go any faster? This is boring!"

"Gaki! Not everyone favors brawn over brain; in fact, only idiots like you would do that."

"Like an idiot like you could be smarter than me, ha!"

"Only an idiot like you would think that a super bridge builder could be an idiot."

"And only an idiot like you would call his protector an idiot."

"Only an…"

Kakashi had had enough of this. Naruto and Tazuna had gone at it for fifteen minutes straight when they left the village, and only Sakura bopping Naruto's head harder than usual had put an end to that. Currently, however, she was scouting up ahead with Sasuke, and therefore the role of peacemaker fell onto him. "Naruto, please be nice to our client. And Tazuna, please do remember that though it has never been used in the entire history of Konoha, we still have the right to cancel the mission if we find the client too uncooperative. You would be reimbursed in full, and left alone in here. Is that what you really want?"

To Kakashi's relief, his only answer was silence from both of the squabbling group members. Unfortunately, this silence only persisted until Sakura and Sasuke approached, their voices preceding their presence.

"I do _not_ consider that stroll through the forest as romantic, I do _not_ want to start a relationship with anyone right now and I do _not_ foresee having a relationship with you in the future. Am I clear enough?"

"But, but… What about re-starting your clan? What about your future? Don't you want…"

"Whether I wish to re-instate the Uchiha as a major clan or not is none of your concern, as I do _not_ want a relationship with you. I have already told you that you're annoying. In our weeks together, you have shown that you are also weak and rather air-headed. Why in the world would I consider you a good mate? Really, are you somehow more dense than even the _dobe_?"

Tazuna looked at Kakashi in askance while Naruto left toward the voices. Kakashi simply hung his head onto his palm, shaking all the while. "Oh dear, out of the frying pan…"

Right on cue, Naruto's voice pierced out. "Teme! Don't insult Sakura-chan!"

"Dobe, are you admitting that you're dense?"

"Huh? What the heck are you talking about? That's not what I said!"

"Naruto," Sakura said, sounding rather defeated, "it's alright. Don't bother."

The trip proceeded in silence over the following hour. However, despite having his wish granted, Kakashi felt ill at ease with his team being so sullen. Sakura seemed to finally understand that Sasuke really had no intention of starting a relationship anytime soon, Naruto was sulking because Sakura was and the Uchiha was as brooding as ever. Not only was it detrimental to their budding teamwork, but it also cast Konoha shinobi in a bad light in front of foreign clients. It was for this reason that Kakashi resolved to order them to cast their differences aside for a later date, only for a puddle on the road to throw all of his plans into the water.

While Kakashi had retired from ANBU quite a while ago, he had yet to lose his paranoid habit of cataloguing his surroundings continually while analyzing them for any unusual patterns. A body of water in the middle of a forest road would not be suspicious under normal circumstances, but to encounter one when it had not rained for days in the middle of an otherwise dry path was another matter entirely. Thus, instead of stepping toward his Genins to admonish them about proper conduct in the presence of a client, he left them in their petty moods while he stood further apart to encourage the ninjas to attack him instead.

Just as Kakashi had predicted, two ninjas emerged from the water –probably Kiri Chunins, if their silence was any indication. Once Kakashi felt their entire chakra signature separate from the water, he focused on a log of wood safely hidden within the trees overhead and waited for their attack. As expected, all three genin whirled around the very moment the Mist Chunin stepped out of the puddle of water, just in time to see a serrated chain held between the two Kiri Chunins wrap around Kakashi and tear their prey asunder, a shower of blood obscuring all other details.

* * *

Naruto was shaken to his core. Kakashi had acknowledged Naruto and offered genuine help whenever Naruto asked for it, despite being constantly late and aloof. Thus, regardless of how infuriating Kakashi's way of helping might be, this was still more than enough to include him alongside the Ichirakus, the Sandaime, Iruka and Ebisu, making him the newest addition to the list of Naruto's precious people. Each of those persons had been nice to Naruto when they needn't be, and each of those was rewarded by Naruto's fierce loyalty. Indeed, Naruto would gladly give his life on a whim for any of them.

Yet here Kakashi was torn to shreds while Naruto had done nothing -could have do nothing, though the blond was but a few paces away from the carnage. How could this happen? Wasn't Naruto's training sufficient to protect those few persons of any significance to him? Hadn't he worked himself sore enough every day? Why did this _hurt_ so much?

So immersed in his misery was Naruto that he failed to register the subsequent actions of the Kiri ninjas, standing stock-still in the path of one of those deadly claws mounted on the Chunins' gauntlets until Sasuke pushed him out of the way. Unfortunately, Naruto was still stabbed in his left hand.

* * *

When Sasuke saw Naruto remain catatonic even through the pain, the raven-haired ninja attempted to taunt his teammate out of his stupor. "Are you hurt, _scaredy-cat_?"

Sasuke's words had the desired effect, snapping Naruto back to reality in time to help with their opponents just as they rebounded off of a tree and went back to charge at the Genins. Though Sasuke had accomplished much by forcing their favored serrated chain out of commission via a few strategically-placed kunai, the Genins were still grossly outmatched.

"Three Genins," wheezed one of the attackers through his water respirator. "This'll be a breeze! We'll get rid of the target in no time! We promise we won't let you suffer needlessly."

Naruto and Sasuke worked fluidly together as a team, each one always knowing where the other was and easily surpassing Kakashi's prior expectations. However, their opponents, the _Oni Kyoudai, _had enough experience to not even need to know where their partner was: they simply fought together instinctively in a manner that could only be gained through years of work together in life-or-death situations. Even worse for the Genins, though, the _Oni Kyoudai_ were Chunin-level ninjas. Unlike Mizuki, their rank was earned through their core abilities rather than psychological trickery. They were better trained, and for far longer, than the Genins, and also had experience on the field where none of the Genins had truly faced a single deathmatch before.

As promised, the enemies danced their way through the concerted attacks from the Konoha ninja to stab their claws toward vital areas, only for Kakashi to suddenly reappear in front of the Genins, a clawed gauntlet in each hand. With a simple somersault, the Jonin pulled the Chunins off balance and put them out of commission by knocking their heads together using his feet while still vaulting in mid-air.

"Kakashi! You're still alive," finally voiced Sakura.

"Hm? Oh, yes, I'm alive. These two are Gouzu and Meizu, better known as the _Oni Kyoudai_, the 'Demon Brothers', missing-nin from Kirigakure with some skill in silent assassination techniques," Kakashi informed his audience as he tied up the Kiri ninjas. "They're solid Chunin-level ninjas, much above what any Genin can expect to face even outnumbered, but not nearly enough to eliminate me. Tazuna-san, you mentioned in the mission scroll that there were no ninja attacks expected, didn't you? I believe we need to talk. But first, Naruto, the _Oni Kyoudai_ always coat their weapons with some poison. We'll need to check that first."

"Aw, man, poison? Not again." Naruto heaved a long-suffering sigh even as he removed a kunai from his pouch to slice open the blood vessel leading away from the previous injury. The movements were automatic, thoughtless -Naruto was still brooding over his lackluster performance. Naruto forcibly pushed poisoned blood out from the new wound, his mind still on the confrontation. "Next time, I won't be a scaredy-cat. No more! I will no longer be useless to those precious to me."

"Naruto?" Unlike the usual shriek with which Sakura addressed the blond, the pink-haired Genin was now cautious and rather skittish, warily eyeing Naruto as the latter wound bandages over his cut. "What were you doing with the kunai?"

"Huh? Oh, that? Um, well, Kakashi did just say that the claw was poisoned, right? I'm just, y'know, driving out the poison."

"But how would you know where to cut? And how much blood to push out?"

"Experience."

The darkness tinting Naruto's tone, sharp in contrast to the lightness Naruto typically preferred, warned Sakura not to push the topic. She readily complied with his silent request, already unsettled enough. After all, learning that one's teammate had been attacked regularly enough with a poisoned weapon to instinctively know the proper method to deal with such injuries was rather disturbing and clashed with her idea of a carefree Naruto, of one living without a care in the world.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was still sulking over his poor performance against the _Oni Kyoudai_, and he found a convenient outlet in Naruto's behavior. "Tch. The dobe just wants to sound cool."

"Sasuke, what Naruto just did was the method we were recommended to do in ANBU. Show some respect for your teammates at least some of the time, will you?" The shock that Naruto really did know the proper way to treat poisoned wounds was enough to cease that train of thought. Seeing his point was made, Kakashi turned to the bridge builder. "Tazuna, let's go to that clearing. The three of you, set up the tents."

* * *

One hour later, Kakashi emerged from the clearing.

"Yo, everyone. I dragged the story out from Tazuna. He's the target of ninjas alright; he simply lied because he isn't be able to afford anything higher than C-rank. You're in way over your heads. We're going back to Konoha."

Unsurprisingly, Naruto bleated his protest. "Wait a minute; we're not getting the whole story here! Why's a drunk old bridge builder like him getting targeted?"

Kakashi sighed. He felt compassion for the bridge builder and knew his Genins would, too, if they knew of the circumstances Tazuna contended against. However, the Jonin's duties were to his Genin squad before clients, even foreign ones. This was why he had skimmed on the details in order to convince his Genins to return to Konoha before they faced a situation they were not yet ready to handle. However, it now seemed there was little hope of that.

"What do you know about Wave Country?"

Naruto started reciting details before even Sakura did. "It's a small country comprised of many small islands to the West of Fire Country. It doesn't have a Hidden Village like Fire Country, and the economy is based on exporting goods, mainly seafood. I think that's about it."

The other members of the squad looked at Naruto in interest. It was Sasuke who voiced their question.

"Dobe, when did you become smarter?"

"Teme! Bet you didn't know about Wave Country, huh? Hah!"

Sakura brought Naruto back from his tirade. She would have retaliated against the insult, yet she was mroe interested in Naruto for once. "I also want to know, Naruto. When did you learn all that?"

"It was in the book I was reading, 'Geopolitical Landscape' or something like that by MN."

Kakashi cleared his throat to bring his students back into the main discussion. "As I was about to say, good job on profiling Wave Country, Naruto. As Naruto just said, the economy is based almost exclusively on exportation of seafood. There are no bridges out of Wave Country; therefore the citizens rely on shipping companies. It seems that Gatou of Gatou Industries and Shipping has monopolized the exportation business since a short while ago, and is abusing that monopoly to drive the country into poverty. If Tazuna finishes the bridge, the people will be able to trade freely once more, which is bad for Gatou's monopoly. Hence, Gatou wants Tazuna out of the way and has apparently hired ninjas to do it. We were just attacked by Kiri Chunins, making this a B-rank mission at the very least. And that's why we're going back to Konoha."

Kakashi's tone brooked no argument, yet Naruto was oblivious to it. "Hey, we can't just leave the old man like that! You know he needs it; we _have_ to go on!"

"Dobe! If you froze at the last encounter, do you really think you'll have a chance later on?"

"That was a good point Sasuke just made. You three were outmatched in the last encounter; the next ones are certain to be even harder. Do you really want to continue?"

"Of course," said Naruto. His teammates were pensive, however, and didn't answer.

"Sasuke, Sakura, do you also think we should still continue?"

"Ne, Kakashi," Naruto interrupted, "why did you wait so long before fighting them?"

"I needed to confirm their target. They could have also just been waiting to ambush Konoha ninjas. So now, Sasuke, Sakura, do you think we should still continue?"

"Ano… I don't think it's right to just leave Tazuna-san here."

"That's not nearly enough, Sakura. Do you think _we_ should complete the mission?"

"Kakashi," Naruto interjected once more, "why didn't Tazuna just request a B-rank mission?"

"Dobe, Kakashi said it already. Tazuna can't afford it."

"Oh. Makes sense, I guess."

"Hn. And you're injured, dobe. We can't go on expecting ninja attacks with one team member injured."

"Hey! I'll have you know that I'm perfectly fine. See?" Naruto flexed his hand as proof. Then, Naruto's eyes hardened with determination. "But if Tazuna can't afford anything better, we _have_ to take this mission. It's too important to just drop!"

"Whatever. If Naruto's physically fit to do so, then I agree with the dobe ("Hey, teme! Watch it!"): we should take the mission."

Kakashi eyed Sakura. "And what do you think?"

"I also think we should finish the mission. It's just not right to let him on his own after we've learned about Gatou."

Kakashi still tried one last time. "We could also ask more experienced ninjas to take the mission, you know. You don't have to take it. Or we could ask for reinforcements and complete the mission with the support it warrants. We don't have to face this; not by ourselves. We could bring Tazuna back to Konoha, and have him promise to pay the remaining funds for a B-rank mission after the bridge is completed."

This time, it was Sakura who disagreed. "No, I think we do have to complete this mission. If we request another team to complete it for us or with us, the Hokage might refuse because Tazuna lied to him. No, _we_ have to do it or it won't get done."

"Alright, then. Since you're unanimous, we'll carry on with the mission. I'll send a message back to Konoha to let them know about the Kiri nins tied up here. Now go get some sleep; we're getting up early tomorrow."

* * *

The next morning found Kakashi and his group members trudging along, yawning widely every few steps. By the time the sun gilded the forest leaves from its birth far in the horizon, they were already on the road for well over an hour. Tazuna had stopped irritating Naruto after the previous day's show. After all, that he still had a ninja escort was mainly due to the blond's intervention. Instead, the bridge builder was now observing Naruto in a new light: how could he have mistaken Naruto's brashly phrased insight as stupidity? And how could one so young and full of life stab himself so easily simply to remove poison?

Currently, Tazuna noticed the blond seemed even more on edge than earlier. At first, Tazuna had assumed that this was due to the increasing humidity that resulted from being near a body of water, yet Naruto dispelled this notion quickly when he threw a kunai into a bush even as they finally reached the shore.

"Naruto, don't throw your kunais randomly," yelled Sakura as the blond went to retrieve his weapon. However, it seemed that he had indeed heard suspicious noise: a white fluff of fur stood quivering in fear below the kunai. However, Sakura was not so easily distracted. "See, you almost killed that poor innocent little cute bunny! Here, bunny-bunny," Sakura soothed the rabbit while Naruto stared at her bug-eyed. Never before had he seen anyone turn so quickly from shouting at him to cooing an animal. His incredulity didn't last long, however.

"Get down!"

Obeying Kakashi's order, the Genins saw a massive blade part the mist and barely miss severing Tazuna's head as Sasuke pulled Tazuna to the ground. The blade continued whirling on its path only to lodge itself soundly into the trunk of a tree. Soon enough, the owner of the blade showed himself, perched casually atop his makeshift plank. Except for a leather strap that allowed him to heave the holster of his sword on his back, his torso was uncovered while bandages were wound tightly over his lower face. When he spoke, his voice came out in a harsh rasp.

"Give me the old man and I'll let you live."

Kakashi was a hardened war veteran, however, and such measures were grossly insufficient to faze him. "Yo! I presume you would be Momochi Zabuza, _Kirigakure no Kijin_, master of the infamous _Muon Satsujin Jutsu_ and owner of the _Kubikiri Houchou_, right? Nice to meet ya!"

Zabuza did a double-take at the jovial tone until he saw his interlocutor. A lesser ninja would have missed the way Kakashi's hand angled towards his kunai holster as well as the fighting stance of his feet. However, Zabuza had been part of Kirigakure's ANBU long enough to deduce that Kakashi took Zabuza as a serious threat. "Ah. Hatake Kakashi, also known as 'Sharingan Kakashi' and 'Kakashi of the Thousand Jutsus', isn't it? Nice to know my reputation still precedes me. Surely you don't expect to face me while protecting all those charges? Just hand Tazuna over and we'll be done; no need for unnecessary bloodshed."

"This coming from the Demon of the Mist? I'm afraid no can do, my dear Zabuza-kun." Though his words were still as carefree as before, there was now a glint of steel in his tone. "You see, I'm duty-bound to protect him, so you can't have him until our mission is done."

"There's no way around it, then," concluded the Momochi. "My mission is to kill the old man as soon as possible. I'll have to fight you. Heh. Did you know the bounty on your head doubled in the past five years? I'll make a nice profit from you yet!"

Zabuza jumped down from his _Kubikiri Houchou_, the fabled "Guillotine Sword" trailing his descent, while Kakashi revealed the _Sharingan_ eye normally hidden under his _hitai-ate_.

"The _Sharingan _so soon? Oh, I'm so honored, Copy-Nin Kakashi! However, that won't help you."

As soon as Zabuza finished speaking, both Kakashi and Zabuza's killer intent rose, permeating the environment until all others were nearly suffocating as if they were standing in molasses rather than air. Sasuke seemed most affected of all, his breath drawn raggedly and his eyes glassy. Kakashi noticed this. Since the confrontation hadn't truly started yet, he took the risk of turning back with a smile in his eyes. "Don't worry; I won't ever let my teammates die. That's a promise! Now form a defensive perimeter around the client and let me take care of the rest."

"Nuh-huh, my dear Kakashi; that's one promise you won't be able to hold, I'm afraid." Zabuza's voice was as pleasant as sandpaper grating on glass, drawing the attention of the Konoha ninjas back to an opponent who was now standing on the water. "_Kirigakure no Jutsu_!"

A thick mist soon washed out the entire area, reducing visibility to none. Even worse, however, was the effect of Zabuza's voice in the mist. "Well, well, well, what should I target first?" Rather than helping the Konoha ninjas locate his position, Zabuza's little speech disoriented them further, as the sound seemed to come out muffled and from everywhere at once. "The larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugulars, collarbone, kidneys and heart: which of these vital points should I target? What should I do? Ah, burden of choice, thou art cumbersome indeed!"

The Genins were shaken by the ominous words still reverberating all around them. The lack of visibility did nothing to alleviate the ambience and soon they were no longer sure where their position relative to each other was. It was then that Zabuza seemed to coalesce from the very mist, well within the defensive perimeter they had set. Sasuke and Naruto, being the closest, rushed to intercept the missing-nin. However, even they knew they would be too late to prevent the death of Tazuna, as Zabuza was already swinging his blade by the time they noticed his presence.

Much to their surprise, they found a kunai embedded in Zabuza's back a mere blink of an eye later. They traced the probable trajectory of the weapon to see Kakashi with another kunai already prepared in his hand, body tense and eyes alert. His caution was explained when Zabuza started bleeding water, only to entirely dispel in a large splash even as another Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi with the _Kubikiri Houchou_ at Kakashi's neck: clearly, it was only a _Mizu Bunshin_ that suffered a hit.

However, it turned out to be naught but a _Mizu Bunshin _of Kakashi, as the silver-haired Jonin reappeared behind Zabuza as soon as the latter decapitated Kakashi's _Mizu Bunshin_. This game of ninja-style hide-and-seek persisted all the way to the very lake, until the real Kakashi dispelled a _Mizu Bunshin _created by Zabuza. However, this was not a standard _Mizu Bunshin_, but rather a ploy set in advance by Zabuza and water exploded outward as the clone dispelled, enveloping Kakashi while the real Zabuza flashed through more handseals than the Genins could follow. Before the water from the latest _Mizu Bunshin _had fallen, the sequence was completed and instead of falling down, it compressed into a sphere with Kakashi trapped inside, unable to move.

"_Suirou no Jutsu_. Heh! Turns out the Copy-Nin can't keep his promise, after all. This slight bubble of water is actually stronger than steel, though I suspect you have enough chakra to be able to keep breathing." Zabuza concentrated for but a heartbeat, a _Mizu Bunshin _emerging from the water as a result. "Too bad Thousand-Jutsu Kakashi didn't offer me the old man when he had the chance: you three might just as well be sitting ducks."

"Take Tazuna and flee!" Kakashi was frantic. "This isn't a battle you can hope to win. If you get away, he won't be able to follow you with his _Mizu Bunshin_: his clones lose strength with increased distance."

His endeavor might as well have fallen on deaf ears. All three were too shocked at this latest turn of event for the danger to themselves to register just yet, much less derive the proper action to counter Zabuza's advantage. It was only when the _Mizu Bunshin _stepped on the shore that Naruto shook his head and settled down into a fighting stance –at least, Kakashi mused from his watery prison, he now had a respectable _kiba-dachi_, in sharp contrast to the brawling skills he had shown in his Genin test. However, surely Naruto knew that even this improvement wouldn't even put a dent in the large gap in abilities between Naruto and Zabuza, didn't he? After all, Zabuza had shown himself a formidable foe to Kakashi, thereby providing a helpful indicator to the missing-nin's abilities for the blond. Yet Naruto stood resolute, kunais firmly held in both hands, while Sasuke and Sakura held their ground on either side of Tazuna, numerous shurikens readied at their fingertips.

Seeing this scene, Zabuza's _Mizu Bunshin _stopped his progression to cock his head to one side, puzzlement clearly etched in his eyes, while the original Zabuza's shoulders shook enough from laughter that Kakashi had dared hope his captor would accidentally release the water prison. However, Zabuza soon gained enough control of his mirth.

"Do you gakis really believe you can stand up to me just because you wear _hitai-ates_? Let me tell you a secret: a piece of cloth doesn't make one a ninja. Being entered in a Bingo book might, but wearing a simple shiny little headband? Even back in the good old days of _Chigiri no Sato_, where the Academy graduation exam was to kill one classmate, no piece of cloth could possibly mean that you're a ninja. You need to have entered enough life-or-death situations where the only means of survival is to kill strong opponents before you can call yourselves shinobi. Still don't believe me? Why don't you try fighting with my _Mizu Bunshin_, a clone that has only a tenth of my strength?"

With this invitation Naruto sped towards the _Mizu Bunshin_, only to see it disappear into the mist. As Naruto paused to puzzle out the location of his opponent, the _Mizu Bunshin _suddenly reappeared to the right of Naruto in the middle of a roundhouse kick. When it connected, the impact was enough to jar loose Naruto's _hitai-ate_ while sending the blond flying off until he crashed into a tree nearly six feet away.

Seeing his teammate's plight, Sasuke threw a volley of shurikens, all of which were carelessly blocked by the clone's sword. As soon as Sakura joined the fray with her own projectiles, Sasuke sped towards the _Mizu Bunshin _much as Naruto did earlier. Instead of a kick, however, he was greeted by a hand gripping his throat in mid-lunge before he too was discarded to the side, the fate of his momentum left to the tender mercy of a rough-barked tree.

Naruto and Sakura were both frightened. While they knew from the start that Zabuza wasn't an opponent they could challenge, much less overcome, they hadn't realized how desperate their situation was until Zabuza's _Mizu Bunshin _had batted away the projectiles much as he probably would a mosquito. Naruto considered making a hopeless dash for his life, anything to get away from this… this demon. How could anyone simply _toy _with enemy ninjas as Zabuza just did? And was that a gleam in the clone's eyes as he stomped his foot on Naruto's _hitai-ate_?

Yet when Naruto prepared to flee as Kakashi had instructed, a twitch in his left hand reminded him of his earlier promise to himself. Overcoming his fear, Naruto made a single unorthodox handseal to immediately flood the area with his own clones. As one, the sea of clones swarmed towards the single _Mizu Bunshin_. Zabuza would not be so easily defeated, as proved by the rapidly expanding smoke surrounding the water clone. Barely a second later was Naruto sent tumbling head-over-heels from the cloud, landing in the bush right besides Sasuke. When the debris around Zabuza's _Mizu Bunshin_ cleared, the clone was standing as dispassionately as before, even though his shirtless sleeves were infinitesimally more worn than before.

"Dobe! Did you think greater numbers would help?"

"Teme! Of course it did." Naruto shared a brilliant smile while tying back the _hitai-ate _he had miraculously retrieved, enjoying Sasuke's dumbfounded expression. Naruto briefly considered using his _Kaze no Teisei_, yet the significance of the long preparation time he currently required for the jutsu was finally clear to him. Therefore, he needed another trump card capable of toppling someone of Zabuza's caliber. It while was listening Sasuke complain ("If only you had retrieved Kakashi instead of some stupid _hitai-ate_") that Naruto suddenly remembered the true strength of Konoha nindo and immediately formed a far-fetched plan that just might be foolish enough to fool Zabuza.

"Now, here's my plan," whispered Naruto before launching into a long series of mutters directed solely at Sasuke. For once, the raven-haired Genin listened with rapt attention to his blond teammate. The _Mizu Bunshin_, on the other hand, was rather put out by his lack of a conversation partner. "Hey, you gakis, are you done muttering sweet nothings to each other? 'Cause I've gotta kill y'all sometime this century, y'know?"

Apparently, Naruto had finished imparting his plan to Sasuke, as the former shouted back: "Kill us? We're gonna get you!"

Naruto put his fingers once again into a familiar cross-shape while Sasuke sent a veritable shower of shurikens, kunais and wooden twigs of varied length and mixed sharpness onto the _Mizu Bunshin_. As before, the clone parried the attack with a makeshift screen of water-simulated steel. However, Sasuke had succeeded in distracting the _Mizu Bunshin _long enough for Naruto to complete his _Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_.

As before, the hordes of orange-clad Genins assaulted the _Mizu Bunshin_ and, in a repeat of the previous attempt, the water clone emerged victorious with nary a scratch on his body. This was possibly why the _Mizu Bunshin _was caught flat-footed when a gigantic fuuma shuriken flew straight towards his head. At the last minute, Zabuza's clone managed to dodge, though this much was apparently foreseen by the Genins if the curving trajectory of the shuriken leading it towards for the real Zabuza were any indication.

Snorting, the Demon of the Mist lazily fetched the weapon with two fingers before, wide-eyed, he was forced to dodge the smaller fuuma shuriken hidden in the shadow of the first one, almost letting Kakashi go in the process. It was when the fuuma shuriken popped into the form Naruto that the true purpose of the maneuver was revealed. Indeed, when Naruto threw three kunais at Zabuza, the latter was forced to let go of Kakashi's _Suirou no Jutsu_ in favor of keeping his head properly attached to his body.

Zabuza snarled. It was a sound so ferocious that even the most primal thoughts of fight-or-flight fled from Naruto mind. When Zabuza lunged, it was only due to a hasty tackle by Kakashi that the blond avoided getting impaled by the _Kubikiri Houchou_. A throw later, Naruto was safely back to the shore.

"Your fight's with me. This time, I won't fall for a simple trick like that. This time, I'll fight you seriously." Seeing Zabuza's attention was properly drawn, Kakashi completed his speech. "This time, I'll kill you."

"Hah! You're welcome to try. Let's see you get out of this!"

Zabuza started performing handseals at an alarming rate. However, Kakashi seemed completely at ease while mirroring his opponent, handseal for handseal. When both ninjas completed their sequence, two dragons of identical size rose out of the water and headed towards each other simultaneously. The impact from the collision of the mosntrous bodies of water was felt even by Tazuna, who was the furthest out on the shore.

Though shaken, Zabuza plowed on to his next technique only to see Kakashi still matching him with the Sharingan whirling madly. 'How does he know what I'm doing? Is he really…'

"Seeing the future?"

Hearing Kakashi complete his thoughts out loud almost shocked him into misfiring the next handseal. Fortunately, his training was quite thorough enough to still continue performing the jutsu, though his speed had been slightly dented. What really did make him pause for a full beat, though, was Kakashi's next maneuver. 'Could he be able to...'

"Read your mind? Yes, in fact, I can read your mind, just as I can also see the future. And I see your death!" The words themselves would have been ignored, but Kakashi had also cast a minor _genjutsu_. Zabuza saw himself get crushed by the very jutsu he had been preparing; one that Kakashi had not yet even finished copying.

Yet by the time he brought his mind back to reality, Kakashi was performing the final seal. "_Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu_," whispered Kakashi even as a giant wave of water rose and smote Zabuza in the chest, washing the missing-nin ashore and crushing him through countless trees before the water receded. Barely conscious, he was still aware of an unfinished fight still supposedly going on and forced himself to stand. Kakashi was also tired even if not nearly as damaged as Zabuza and still in perfectly acceptable condition to deliver the _coup-de-grâce_. However, this final blow was denied him by several senbons suddenly lodging themselves in Zabuza's thick neck muscles, causing the latter to slump down as a mask-wearing boy barely older than Kakashi's Genins landed softly beside Zabuza.

"Greetings, Konoha-nins."

"Greetings. From your mask, I assume you are a hunter-nin from Kiri." It was Kakashi who had taken the role of spokesperson for his group. "Am I correct?"

"You are correct indeed; this is the mask of Kirigakure hunter-nins. You have saved me a difficult battle, and for that I thank you. However, I must now reclaim Zabuza's body. I trust there are no objections?"

"No objections from us. Please, do as you wish."

"I thank you for your cooperation and bid your group good day and safe travel."

With that, the boy formed a single-handed handseal and disappeared with the distinctive swirl of a _Shunshin no Jutsu_. Kakashi's Genins were all stunned into silence by this latest development. After a long while, it was Naruto who broached the subject that had them all baffled.

"Ne, Kakashi, aren't hunter-nins elite trackers with extremely high combat abilities?"

"Yes, Naruto, that's right."

"The dobe is right. How could a boy that young be powerful enough to be a hunter-nin?"

"I'll admit that I find there's something off about this scenario, but the age of the hunter-nin isn't it. You'll have to learn that in our world, age has very little correlation with ability. For example, I myself was a Jonin by the time I was thirteen, just one year older than you are. You must always assume that there will be someone stronger than you are at a fraction of your age." His spiel done, Kakashi let through the weariness he had felt from overusing the _Sharingan_. He still had enough left to edge in two more sentences, however: just enough to issue his instructions. "Now, if you don't mind, I need a good rest. Take me and Tazuna safely to his house, would you?"

Unable to resist gravity any longer, Kakashi fell face-first into the shore. Fortunately, they were close already to Tazuna's meeting point, thus reducing grumbling from Naruto's _Kage Bunshin _as they complied with his orders. Really, who would have guessed how much a skinny scarecrow like Kakashi could weigh this much? Neither Sakura nor Sasuke were willing to handle the weight, and it was fortunate that Naruto's clone had enough stamina to last the five-minute walk to the hidden pier. Once they arrived, it still took all three Genins (as well as one of Naruto's clones) to load Kakashi onboard.

* * *

They arrived safely in Wave Country shortly afterward. Despite having been warned by Tazuna, the pervasive poverty and sheer hopelessness hanging in the air still struck them hard, especially Naruto. Streets were rampant with street urchins, frayed threads barely holding clothes together, and every stall sold at best week-old food. Many people had turned to theft for survival, however clumsy they may be at that art. Sakura had more than once mistaken a pickpocket for a pervert. By the time the Konoha ninjas arrived at Tazuna's house, they were thoroughly disheartened by the conditions even as their resolve to help the bridge builder coalesced into steel. More than ever, they were convinced they had taken the right decision, regardless of the course of action the ninja code of conduct would have them follow.

Tsunami greeted them at the end of their trek, opening the door to Tazuna's house with a smile.

"Welcome to our humble abode, Konoha ninjas. I am Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter. We hope that you will find your stay here enjoyable."

The house was in significantly better shape than the rest of the village, though it was clear that it had seen better days. While it was spacious and well-kept, the furniture was showing signs of age and the belongings few. However, the Genins had more pressing matters than gawking at their temporary residence.

"Ne, old man, where can we put down Kakashi?"

"Naruto!" Sakura had apparently returned to form, hitting Naruto over the top of his head. "You're impolite! We should introduce ourselves first." Sakura suddenly changed back to a demure young lady as she turned to address their host. "Thank you for your welcome, Tsunami-san. I am Sakura, the blond knucklehead is Naruto and Sasuke is on my right. Kakashi is our sensei, though he is currently unconscious from overexertion. We will protect Tazuna to the best of our abilities."

Tsunami had to hide a grin at Naruto's indistinct grumbling. She was at first both shocked and concerned over his health when Sakura casually bopped him hard, but he seemed to have no problems from sustaining such a blow. Reminding herself of her duty, she could sympathize with Naruto's plight and thus promptly offered the nearest room to Kakashi rather than the one at the top of the stairs that she had intended. After all, an unconscious person couldn't complain much about the sorry state of the tatami, could he?

* * *

Kakashi finally cracked open an eyelid the next morning. To his relief, he saw his Genins settled around him, though his eardrums did not appreciate Naruto's bellow quite as much.

"Kakashi! You're awake!"

"Hai, hai, I'm awake. Where are we and how long was I out?"

"Naruto, don't shout like that!" Sakura faced Kakashi before answered his questions. "We have arrived at Tazuna's house. You were unconscious since after your fight with Zabuza yesterday and it's now morning."

"Good! It seems that you'll have to train hard, because Zabuza isn't dead."

"What!" This time, Sakura had added her own voice to complement Naruto's while Sasuke had dropped his insouciant façade in favor of wide-eyed shock.

"I finally remembered what was wrong about that hunter-nin. First, he struck the meaty part of the neck, which you may remember is not one of the vital points. Second, he didn't destroy the body on sight, but left with it. Hunter-nins are supposed to destroy the corpse as soon as possible to prevent divulging Village secrets such as jutsus. Taking one body to another location doesn't make any sense, as that would increase the risk of having a fight over the corpse. However, that hunter-nin did just that, instead of following protocol."

"So he must have been a pretender, which means that Zabuza is still alive," finished Sakura. As usual, she was the brightest of the three.

"Indeed. I really should have noticed that, being an ex-ANBU captain and everything, but it was so difficult to focus back there. I only now remembered that the acupuncture points the fake hunter-nin struck would induce a death-like trance. It will take at least a week for Zabuza to recover from that. Luckily, it should also only take a week for me to recover my chakra. However, we now have to face Zabuza's accomplice as well, which is why you'll need to train hard."

"But how, Kakashi?" This time, it was Naruto who interrupted Kakashi. "You're still injured."

"That's easy: I have enough chakra to show you what you'll be doing."

Sasuke decided to grace the conversation with his input. "But that… hunter nin. He's much more skilled than we are. How could we hope to face him in a week?"

"Don't sell yourselves short," reprimanded Kakashi. "You've managed to force Zabuza to release me when you cooperated with each other. I'm sure you'll be ready in a week. Now, for the training, we need to go outside to the trees."

Kakashi led his team to a clearing in the surrounding forests before elaborating further. "Let's start with a basic review of chakra."

Surprisingly, Naruto was the only one not muttering darkly. "Ne, Kakashi; are we going to learn how to master chakra?"

"Dobe! We can already use jutsus, which means we've already mastered chakra."

Kakashi was rather amused: the dead-last had finally grasped something before the top-ranked Academy graduate or even the brightest ninja of their generation had caught onto the game. It seemed the remedial training had done wonders to Naruto's knowledge base. He'd have to report as much the Hokage upon his return, as well as congratulate Ebisu on a job well done.

"Sasuke, Naruto is in fact correct. However, it would seem from your comment that you need a refresher. Sakura?"

The pink-haired Genin beamed brightly before answering. "Hai. Chakra is the energy used by ninjas. It is made of two components: physical and spiritual. The…"

"We know all that! How else could we use jutsus if we didn't?"

Kakashi sighed. He had hoped to make sure that everyone knew enough to understand the point of the exercise. It would seem he'd simply have to hope that the Academy did cover this section properly. "The point of the review was to let you know that you haven't actually mastered chakra yet. Naruto was correct: I'll be giving you the first step to mastering your chakra. I'll also have you know," Kakashi added to pre-empt Sasuke's reservations, "that no one will ever truly master their chakra. It's a life-long pursuit that even the Hokage still strives for. What I'm doing is giving you somewhere to begin."

Seeing all of his students were attentive, Kakashi launched into the main part of the introductory speech. "In order to perform jutsu correctly, you'll need to learn to mix spiritual and physical energies with the right proportion to mold chakra with the right properties. What you'll be doing today is mixing them to generate a 'sticky' type of chakra. The exercise will be to use that chakra to climb trees…" Kakashi waited for his students to react and he was not disappointed. Whereas Naruto had seemed excited all the way through the speech, even he now joined his teammates in their incoherent mumbling. Kakashi waited for his Genins to quiet down to continue issuing his instructions, as unperturbed as ever.

"As I was saying, you'll be climbing trees without your hands." After a dramatic pause, Kakashi walked to the base of a tree. "Like this."

Kakashi formed the Ram sign and concentrated enough chakra toward his feet to form a slight wind pushing the grass away. Kakashi waited for the Genins to notice this before he walked straight up the slope of the tree as if it were level ground and then walked alongside the first large branch of the tree upside down. "Any questions?" he asked while maintaining his unusual position.

Naruto surprised everyone by asking a practical question. "How will we control how much of each component we use?"

"Ah. That's the goal of this exercise: you'll have to learn to feel the physical and spiritual components of your chakra. You might have noticed that I also have to remove my feet from the tree to walk. That's accomplished by changing the composition of chakra in my feet rather than removing chakra altogether." Kakashi threw down three kunais, each landing a short distance in front of a Genin. "Use those to mark your progress."

His goal done, Kakashi walked back and slumped down in the shade of a tree even as he sent both a _Kage Bunshin_ and a _Mizu Bunshin _to protect Tazuna. Most Jonin senseis would berate his foolish expectations: very few rookie Genins could identify the physical and spiritual components of chakra within a month, much less clear both tree-walking and water-walking exercises within a week with enough time to spare for jutsus afterward. However, he wasn't quite as disconnected from reality as he would have people believe. After all, he _had _been pushing his team's basic foundations and closely monitored their growth during their month together, just as he now watched Naruto and Sasuke run full-tilt towards their trees while Sakura stood before hers while trying different ways to mold her chakra. It was obvious from this alone who would be the first to complete the exercise. Or perhaps not, mused Kakashi as he noticed Naruto tripping when one of his feet accidentally glued itself to the ground. With interest, he watched as Naruto tried different combinations before abandoning this method in favor of returning to running.

Kakashi barely restrained a snort. So much for that hope! It seemed he'd be in for a long wait after all. Kakashi brought out his orange book and started reading. After turning the page, he finally deigned to soothe his conscience by taking a look at his charges' progress. Sakura was heaving heavily, but it was clear that she had understood the principle as she stood at least fifteen feet above ground. Sasuke and Naruto, on the other hand, had yet to clear seven feet.

"Good job, Sakura. I'll show you the next exercise when you can run up and down the entire length of the tree twenty times in a row. Sasuke, might it be that the Uchiha aren't all they're said to be? And Naruto," he added when Naruto was about to snicker, "perhaps you should let Sakura be Hokage, hmm?"

All three Genins responded to his comments by working harder, renewed determination fuelling their efforts. However, when Naruto failed to progress beyond ten feet, he relented and went to Sakura's tree, waiting for her to descend before asking her for advice. Soon enough, the kunoichi flopped down from her precarious perch on the tree, barely managing to land on her feet.

"Ne, Sakura-chan, how do you do it?"

"That's… hard to describe. You have to let your resolve and your physical strength merge together in the right proportion. It's like…" Sakura searched for a way to describe the whole spectrum of possible combinations. After a while, an apt analogy popped into her head. "It's like making all the possible colors using just red, blue and yellow dyes. You have to take them in the right proportions and mix them together to give out something entirely different."

Naruto thought for a while, pondering Sakura's advice. "I think I see what you mean. Thanks!" With a huge grin, Naruto scampered back to his tree and stood there, lost to the world while he tried different proportions.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was still trying to force his way through the exercise. After all, that was how he'd learned to breathe the _Goukakyuu no Jutsu_ and that was also how he'd learned the _Taka_-style _taijutsu_. This couldn't be any harder than that, could it? Yet he'd made no progress in the past hour. He still left Naruto in the dust, but the latter was improving quite quickly. Except that he wasn't even trying at all right now, but rather seemed deep in thought.

"Dobe! What are you doing?"

"Teme! I'm concentrating here; stop disturbing me."

"You, concentrate? Ha! Why are you trying to concentrate anyways?"

"Urusei!"

Without another word, Naruto returned to forming the Ram seal while standing still and closing his eyes. Intrigued, Sasuke watched as Naruto stood stock-still for another minute before opening his eyes and slowly walked towards the tree, determination etched in his face. Slowly, he started walking up the tree and kept going long after he passed his own record. It was only when he was within inches of Sasuke's current perch that he slipped and placed a marker where his foot had been. When he fell down to the ground, Sasuke was suddenly more appreciative of the blond.

"What did you do different? How would a dobe like you improve so much?"

"Urusei, teme! If you want help, go beg Sakura yourself! I'm working here!"

With that declaration out of the way, Naruto returned to performing the Ram sign while closing his eyes. Sasuke looked at Sakura before shaking his head in disgust. Uchihas were above _begging _anyone for help, much less a weakling like Sakura. Sasuke thought, trying to reverse-engineer the source of Naruto's progress. Looking at Naruto's feet, Sasuke was amazed to see the strength of chakra-generated winds vary in force and area of effect. It was then that the raven-haired Genin remembered Kakashi's introduction. Perhaps he could try Naruto's method, just to see if it was any good. After all, while the Uchihas would never need help, they weren't above copying what was shown to be effective.

* * *

By the time evening came around, both Sasuke and Naruto were fiercely competing for the spot of second-best. They could now usually run the length of the tree without hiccups, yet every so often their concentration would falter, leaving them back to start over. Thus, both of the Genins were sweating profusely, still attempting a perfect run of twenty round-trip travels. Kakashi was secretly pleased when he dragged them back to the house, kicking and screaming. While Sakura had learned the hard way about the importance of stamina, the male members of the team now held a healthy respect for their resident kunoichi. In addition, they had improved tremendously in a single day. By his estimation, they should be able to attempt the water-walking exercise by noon tomorrow.

The next morning, Naruto and Sasuke were both gorging themselves with more food then they could handle while Sakura retrieved Kakashi down to the dining room. Soon afterwards, both boys were retching despite trying to keep their breakfast down, much to the amusement of their hosts. Sakura alternated between admonishing her teammates and apologizing profusely to Tazuna and Tsunami for her teammates' waste of valuable food, though they both smiled and waved away her concerns. It was another hour before everyone had calmed down enough from the morning's early excitement for Naruto and Sasuke to get up, ready to resume training. However, a small boy made an unexpected appearance by the doorway, blocking both Naruto and Sasuke.

"Why do you all try so hard? You'll die anyways. You should all just go back where you came from. No one can win against Gatou!"

Tsunami was immediately by the boy's side. "Inari, don't say such things! You should be more polite; they're here to protect your grandfather!"

"But don't they know it's useless?"

Naruto couldn't take it anymore. "Hey, I'll have you know it's not useless! We've saved your grandfather's life twice already. We're heroes who won't abandon no matter what!"

"Idiot." Inari sniffed, looking down at the much taller Naruto with all the contempt a six-year-old could manage. "There are no such things as heroes," he elaborated before taking off to the stairs.

"Please, let him be," said Tazuna when Naruto was about to dash after Inari. "He's suffered through a lot. He doesn't mean to insult you; he's just become too cynical of the world."

Sakura voiced the question lingering in the air. "What happened?"

Tazuna related Inari's childhood: how he was often bullied and how he had no father to protect him when that happened. When a stranger by the name of Kaiza came, the first thing he did was save Inari who had been pushed to the sea. His selfless acts didn't stop there, and soon after his arrival, the entire village saw him as a hero.

"But why would Inari say there aren't heroes?" interrupted Naruto.

"Ah. That's because of the night this village was robbed of its courage. You see, we're a fishing town, which means our economy is based on exportation of our goods. Since we don't have a bridge, it means trade has to go through shipping. Unfortunately, Gatou decided to cut off our trading routes. Kaiza protested and fought against Gatou. That was when Gatou decided to make an example of Kaiza: his underlings took Kaiza prisoner and executed him in front of the entire village. Ever since that day, no one has dared confront Gatou. That's why I want to build this bridge: to protect my loved ones from Gatou's reign."

Tazuna's words resonated with those Naruto had made to himself just a short while ago: _"I will no longer be useless to those precious to me." _It made Naruto look at Tazuna not as an old drunkard as he did back in Konoha or as a worker deserving of protection, but as a strong leader worthy of Naruto's respect, thus prompting the latter to answer Tazuna's heartfelt declaration with one of his own. "Hey, old man, we'll help you finish your bridge no matter what!"

"Maa, maa, Naruto, that's all nice and well, but don't you have a tree-walking exercise to learn?"

Without bothering to answer, both Naruto and Sasuke bolted out the door towards the same clearing they used yesterday. While Inari's impromptu speech this morning and Tazuna's subsequent explanation had taken quite a chunk of time, Kakashi hoped his estimate from the previous day would still hold, though the deadline was more to cater to his ego than any real necessity. After all, he still had well over half a week to finish whipping his team into proper shape.

Remembering his third charge, Kakashi addressed Sakura. "Sakura, don't you have a water-walking exercise to practice? As it was, I only saw you walking around, not running."

Sakura groaned in anticipation of countless cold baths, yet she still gathered herself before leaving for a remarkably isolated pool that Kakashi had found yesterday. While she wouldn't put it past her teacher to spy on her given his preferred literature, Sakura still acknowledged her teacher's commitment to the mission. Hence, since Kakashi was bound to protect Tazuna, her sensei would be unlikely to partake in an illicit peeping session.

By noon, Kakashi's guess was realized: both Naruto and Sasuke had demonstrated their skills to him. He had sent them to Sakura, leaving the kunoichi to explain the new chakra control exercise. If all went according to plan, all three Genins would be ready to learn a jutsu by the day after tomorrow. While Sakura had a head start on learning the exercise and had already gotten the hang of it, she didn't have the stamina to walk on water for any length of time, much less run fifty laps around the small pond. Both Sasuke and Naruto, on the other hand, had more than enough chakra to run circles around Sakura, yet neither had the control required. All in all, his team should be ready to learn the three new skills Kakashi had placed his hopes on. Hopefully, there would still be enough construction workers for Tazuna to work with by then, as the mission would be otherwise become pointless. Just today, two more workers had abandoned Tazuna, courtesy of Gatou's threats.

* * *

It took exactly two days for the entire team to be able to run fifty laps around the edge of the water, much as Kakashi had surmised. As soon as that was done, he gave each of them the specific skill he expected of them: a _genjutsu _for Sakura, a _Katon _jutsu for Sasuke and a _Fuuton _jutsu for Naruto. To his great surprise, all three of them mastered the jutsu within the day, even Naruto. Of course, those were low-grade jutsus –low C-rank and high D-rank if used properly. While the _Katon: Housenka no Jutsu _was a common enough jutsu, the _Reppuutoppa _he gave Naruto was a rare technique Kakashi had only seen once during his travels. This was due more to the limited effectiveness of the jutsu rather than the rarity of Wind affinity, as the latter was not a requirement for its use. The _Reppuutoppa _consisted of blowing a wind behind a thrown weapon. The jutsu was awkward to use, as generating winds from the hand was counterintuitive, but that was the only hurdle to learning it.

However, Kakashi had been considered a genius long before he had received his _Sharingan _and Kakashi had applied that analytical brilliance of his to create an entirely different (and much more deadly) attack by combining those three low-level jutsus. Theoretically, Sakura with her near-perfect control would ensnare the enemy in a minor _genjutsu_, sending the target straight into a Fire/Wind combination attack. The tricky part was hitting the _Housenka_. While the fireball was several times the size of a kunai, control of the _Reppuutoppa _could prove problematic. However, Kakashi had managed it himself in trial runs and was confident Naruto would in time as well. The synchronization would still take the rest of the week to refine into a viable tactic by Kakashi's estimation. Certain that his Genins would be able to work out the details once he gave them the general idea, he handed them a scroll with his instructions while he personally went to assist and protect Tazuna.

"Hey, Tazuna, may I speak with you for a minute?"

Even from the corner of his eyes, Kakashi could recognize the skittishness that had plagued the other workers who had been threatened. This would not bode well for Tazuna's motley crew: they were already down to five workers aside from Tazuna himself.

"Ayamu, is there something I can help you with?" Tazuna watched Ayamu from hooded eyes. Clearly Tazna had anticipated the request.

"Is it okay if I stopped coming here? I mean, I have my wife and kids to think about."

As soon as Ayamu had drawn Tazuna's attention, the worker kept his gaze firmly fixed on his sandals. Kakashi was quite adept at reading people and Ayamu did not make much of an effort to hide his situation. The worker would have wished to keep helping in the construction of the bridge, in building the salvation of his people even at the cost of his own life. However, the price had just jumped higher, well beyond what Ayamu could afford.

"Do you need more time to think about it? You may take an extended leave for an undetermined period of time, if you want." Not too surprisingly, Tazuna gave Ayamu the same offer as he had shown all of the others: an honorable way out of a no-win situation. Ayamu's relief shone unbridled through his face.

"Yes, I'd like that very much. Thank you and I hope everything eventually works out."

Smiling darkly, Tazuna answered: "I hope so as well. For all our sakes, I hope so as well."

It was then that Kakashi decided to step in. After all, his chakra had recovered faster than expected and he was nearly at full-strength already.

"Tazuna, if you wish, we ninjas also have some experience with building monuments. If bridge building is similar, I could offer you three workers for the price of an escort."

"Those young ninjas of yours? They're brave and they've got good hearts, but I thought they were doing necessary training, weren't they?"

"They are, but they weren't who I meant." Forming a tiger seal, Kakashi summoned two _Mizu Bunshin_. "This is what I meant. I'd offer greater numbers, but I would compromise my recovery rate if I did just that."

Tazuna chuckled, mirth finally seeping into his voice after a long year spent under Gatou's yoke. "I'm happy to accept your services, m'lads."

* * *

The team and Tazuna reunited for supper. From the way Sakura's clothes were rumpled, Sasuke's were cut and Naruto's were singed, their training had not gone without trouble. Even worse, they made no effort to speak to each other, barely muttering grunts that passed as requests for salt or soya sauce. This most certainly did not sit well with Kakashi.

"So how's your training going?"

Sasuke initiated the complaint session. "Dobe here apparently doesn't have any semblance of an aim."

"Urusei, teme! I wasn't the one who used a _Goukakyu_ instead of a _Housenka_."

"Hn. A dobe will always be a dobe. If your aim was any better, I wouldn't have had to make a bigger fireball."

"Baka teme! I diverted my aim _because_ you messed up! If I'd hit your _Goukakyu_, Sakura'd probably be dead right now."

It was right in the middle of this spat that Inari decided to show up. "You're all idiots! Why are you training anyways? Didn't I tell you already that you'd die? What does it matter if one of you dies earlier?"

Without waiting for their answer, Inari fled up to his room. Everyone finished their meals in silence afterwards, the ambience now as gloomy as the one from the day before. However, instead of going to bed, Naruto decided to train some more.

Sakura's chiding was soft. "Naruto, you'll be no use to us if you have chakra exhaustion."

"I know. I'll be sure not to overdo it. But I'm still gonna prove that there are still heroes around!"

When Naruto left, Kakashi asked Sakura her assessment of the situation. "Could you have escaped if Naruto had hit the _Goukakyu_?"

"Probably not, but surely Sasuke-kun would have stopped the _Goukakyu _if Naruto was about to hit it!"

"Sakura," Kakashi intoned solemnly, "do you know why I expect these really low-rank jutsus to work against someone with much more experience and much fuller skillset?"

"Sure! It's because the combination of Wind and Fire produces a new jutsu that's exponentially more destructive than either jutsu alone."

"That's only part of the answer. What's your role in it?"

"To distract the enemy and to lead the enemy towards the combination attack."

"Why would such a simple strategy work?" When Kakashi was greeted with silence, he dared hope that he reached through the girl's shuttered worldview. "No matter Sasuke's parentage, a Genin won't be able to touch a hunter-nin, even if it's an imitation of a hunter-nin. And have no doubt: that fake hunter-nin is at least high Chunin level according to his skill with senbons, quite enough to qualify as hunter-nin if he has any special abilities at all. He may even be Jonin-level in his core abilities. Yet I'm leaving him to the three of you. In fact, I expect this strategy to work because Naruto's technique is nearly untraceable, whereas a higher-rank one like the _Daitoppa_ leaves tell-tale signs of the technique's path: sounds of a rushing wind, or direction of the face. However, if it's just the _Goukakyu no Jutsu_, a hunter-nin would guess the target of Naruto's _Reppuutoppa_, even if the hunter-nin wouldn't know _when_ the strike would be."

Knowing his pink-haired student was smart enough to figure out the corollary, Kakashi left to speak with Sasuke. "Yo! Let me guess, you pushed yourself with the _Housenka no Jutsu _and Naruto couldn't keep up, right?"

"The dobe really doesn't have any type of aim."

"Do you have _any_ idea what could have happened if Naruto hit it? Let's assume that Naruto didn't have the presence of mind to avoid the _Goukakyu_ but instead persisted, and let's say that Naruto hit the jutsu. No," Kakashi added when Sasuke was about to protest, "you can't just claim that Naruto wouldn't have hit it, or you'd have wasted your energy making the _Goukakyu_. Let's assume that Naruto hit it. From what I heard, it was moving towards Sakura, and was pretty close to her. Let's assume you are _not_ shocked that Naruto succeeded and reacted immediately. What do you think would happen?"

"Hm. Of course the jutsu would be cancelled and Sakura would be fine. I wouldn't put her in that much danger."

"Wrong. Dead wrong. The moment it succeeds, it would no longer be a _Goukakyu_ or a _Repputoppa._ It would be a combination jutsu, and obey different rules. Very different, in this case. Because Naruto still held the _Repputoppa,_ it would have continued to exist. End result: Sakura dies. Let's say Naruto also drops his part of the jutsu. The combination jutsu would destabilize and explode. End result: Sakrua dies.

"I'm sure you remember what I said about ninjas who abandon their teammates. Well, ninjas who murder their teammates simply because they are annoyed are much worse than that. Anyone stupid and incompetent enough to let that happen have no reason to even live. _Ninjutsu_ isn't a game, it is a very deadly tool and art. When you received your _hitai-ate_, Konoha trusted you to respect and handle the ninja arts with care and responsibility. Luckily Naruto did it for you this time. Make sure there is no next time."

Kakashi was about to turn around and leave Sasuke. The latter was indeed cowed by the stern tone, much as Kakashi expected. Yet there was still an issue that had to be addressed. "Also, let me tell you a secret: very few Genin would have the aim to hit a moving target with the _Reppuutoppa_, much less five. After all, what makes the _Repputoppa_ perfect for this task is that it's nearly undetectable. However, because it's so stealthy, it's also hard to aim."

"Don't make excuses for the dobe. Hn. What kind of lame jutsu would be hard to aim?"

Kakashi sighed. Perhaps he should have left the matter for later disposal: it seemed he'd undone the effects of his previous lecture. "The _Reppuutoppa_ is one. It wasn't meant for hitting moving targets, but to increase the effectiveness of other projectiles as they are thrown. In that case, the user would first 'hit' a stationary target before guiding that 'target' as a spearhead. What I'm suggesting is hard, because the _Repputoppa _has to hit full-force while being essentially thrown blindly. Now do you see why Naruto has such a hard time?"

"Hn."

"I'll take that as a yes. Now, just remember that the combination jutsu is a very dangerous one. I don't want to hear of any accidents -if I do, you will be assumed guilty until proven otherwise." Kakashi was glad when Sasuke blanched. "Just a hint: even if your _Housenka _aren't as fast as they could be, Naruto can speed them up midway-through." Seeing Sasuke nod, Kakashi briefly considered looking for Naruto. 'Then again,' reflected Kakashi, 'from the sounds of it, he could use the practice. After all, this _is _a Chunin-level application of the jutsu.' With a mental shrug, Kakashi set off to sleep.

* * *

Naruto still couldn't quite aim his _Repputoppa_ accurately enough, and the frustration had mounted until Naruto decided to take a break. Rather than persisting when the few targets available were much smaller and less flashy than the _Housenka_, Naruto decided to work on another _Fuuton_ jutsu: the _Kaze no Teisei_. Naruto discovered that he could now shorten the time required for the _Kaze no Teisei _from fifteen to ten minutes. While this was still much too long, it was encouraging. This breakthrough was not the source for Naruto's elation, however. Rather, what had Naruto whooping with joy was an accidental discovery: when he had neglected dispelling the "listening field" of the _Kaze no Teisei_, he noticed that he could "hear" where his _Repputoppa_ and deduce its location relative to Naruto from the field. Thus, without having to wait for the chakra feedback to stabilize, he would still be able to direct his _Repputoppa_ as precisely as if he had a projectile tagged into the attack.

Naruto had failed, as usual, to immediately capitalize on this discovery. Questions about the sensitivity and range of the "listening field", the types of signals it could collect or the sheer offensive nature of combining two Wind jutsus completely eluded his mind, just as he did not wonder how he could summon such a practical sensor jutsu with but a common handseal. Instead, it was the _Kyuubi _who began plotting all different sorts of application for this uncommon jutsu. To Naruto's credit, he had managed to stay just on the safe side of his chakra limit. Thus, it was no wonder when he suddenly fell asleep in the middle of the field.

* * *

AN: I would like to thank "Fuyutaro son" for pointing out flaws in the previous version of chapter. Hopefully I've fixed them properly.


	7. Ch6 Zabuza Round Two

Naruto awoke the next morning to the sound of someone humming; someone with flowing hair, one hand outstretched towards a plant and the other hand holding a basketful of herbs. Naruto discovered after striking a conversation that he (_he_! Not she!) was Haku, a boy apparently talented enough with herbs to attempt healing his Master's serious injuries. Who that Master was, Naruto did not think to find out, though when he wondered about the issue after the encounter, he doubted that someone as nice and polite as Haku would be working for a demon like Zabuza. It had been unsettling but deeply gratifying for Naruto to learn that Haku considered him strong for having people to protect. Bolstered by the speech, Naruto vowed to do what was necessary to become a protector.

However, even protectors needed food in their stomachs. Thus, no one was surprised to see Naruto arrive back at the house just as breakfast was about to be served. The ninjas were more concerned about his training than his appetite. It was Sasuke who broached the subject with his customary tact.

"Dobe. Think you can hit the _Housenka_ now?"

"Teme! Of course I can. I could hit Kakashi's yesterday, but you just had to mess things up."

"Maa, maa, Naruto," intervened Kakashi, "Sasuke was just concerned that the enemy would notice the strategy before it would have a chance to hit. But his question is still valid: can you hit the _Housenka_ when it travels at the speed Sasuke threw them yesterday?"

"Heh! I can hit even faster ones now. I really got the hang of it yesterday! I found this super-cool way of doing it where I know where the _Repputoppa_'s going."

The blond's teammates were rather skeptical, as they were well aware of Naruto's tendency to expound dubious claims. They silently agreed to give Naruto the benefit of the doubt, though, and wait until training to decide whether Naruto's expectations were realistic or not. After all, as Kakashi had explained to them earlier, chakra winds in general were notoriously difficult to detect, hence their use to make opponents believe that a projectile was simply thrown with better skill. The _Repputoppa_ that Kakashi taught Naruto was even worse, as there wouldn't even be a sign of the jutsu unless one could see chakra itself. If Naruto really could control the _Repputoppa_ as accurately as he implied, then Kakashi could apply strategies that were often discarded because of the jutsu's control problem, strategies much more complex than the one he'd presented them.

But the first order of business would be determining whether Naruto's abilities lived up to expectations. As soon as breakfast was done, Kakashi led them to a clearing. Instead of asking Naruto to hit fast-moving fireballs, Kakashi asked Naruto to push one shuriken into a kunai while both were in mid-flight. To everyone's surprise, Naruto started with a Rooster seal before following through with the Tiger-Hare-Rooster combination and blasting the shuriken with enough strength to pierce the kunai. Even Kakashi, who as an ex-ANBU captain was extremely sensitive to all manners of chakra manipulations, failed to detect the true purpose of the Rooster seal. Instead, he credited Naruto with enough ingenuity to modify the jutsu by tagging a Rooster seal to the sequence.

"Very well done, Naruto. I'll have to remember your modification; it's really ingenious of you." Kakashi did not wonder how Naruto had arrived at the sequence, nor did he bother verifying the new rank of the jutsu. After all, the Rooster seal was one quite often used for controlling _Fuuton_ chakra. Therefore, it should logically follow that if one added a Rooster seal at the appropriate moment, control of the jutsu would be increased. Naruto, on the other hand, was simply too busy beaming to explain the mechanics behind his contribution. Hence, Kakashi would only learn much later about how Naruto's first B-rank jutsu was created by through a confluence of two D-rank jutsus with a S-rank one.

Before leaving to escort Tazuna, Kakashi handed out his instructions. "Naruto, I want you to try to hit all five fireballs without _Kage Bunshins_ first. After you can do that, use one clone to hit each of the fireballs from two directions at once. If you can control both modified _Reppuutoppas_, then it might be possible to send the fireballs that much faster. Experiment with it on your own."

After the excitement from all team members died down (or, in other words, as soon as Sasuke had stopped grumbling about dobes getting praised for doing only as well as expected), training resumed. Naruto could now hit all of the fireballs successively regardless of Sasuke's throwing speed. There was some problem controlling two modified _Reppuutoppas_ at once: rather than increasing the speed of the attack, it allowed Naruto to supply the fireball with a cutting edge. The problem arose over task division: one would provide shape while the other would guide the trajectory of the enhanced _Housenka_. Unfortunately, there were quite a few instances where both Naruto and his clone attempted to orient the fireball in two separate directions, in which case the fireball would simply explode. The solution agreed upon was that Sakura would decide which blond would perform which task. By the time nightfall arrived and the Genins returned to Tazuna's house, the area was littered with more burned and shredded tree trunks than the craters indicative of misinterpreted signals.

* * *

"Yo! How was training?"

"It was _awesome_!"

Sasuke was slightly more reserved than Naruto. "Dobe! You could still use more practice, as you still need Sakura to tell you what to do."

"Hmm? What's this about Sakura telling Naruto what to do?"

Sakura quickly filled Kakashi in on the situation as she was the first to realize that Kakashi, who had not seen the results of combining two _Repputoppa_, was unaware of the unusual problem the Genins had encountered.

Kakashi looked thoughtful for a second before providing his suggestion: "Why won't Naruto's clone simply provide the edge while the original Naruto controls the movement?"

"My clones think they're the original one, so that won't work."

Kakashi looked at Naruto long and hard enough for the blond to start squirming, though that hadn't been the Jonin's intentions. How was it possible to perform the _Kage Bunshin_ without understanding the intricate details of chakra memory? Clearly, Naruto had an intuitive grasp on chakra density rather than simply chakra mass and was able to manipulate chakra outside his body. Both of these abilities were quite advanced, usually requiring knowledge of advanced chakra properties; properties which were much more complex than those taught at the Academy. Yet here was Naruto, a Genin who could produce shadow clones without understanding even theories as crucial to the _Kage Bunshin_ as chakra memory.

Shaking his head, Kakashi resolved to sit down with Naruto to fill in the theoretical gaps necessary for the latter to reap the full benefits of the _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_. "Would your clone typically accept it if they're told they're clones?"

Naruto looked rather puzzled by the question. "I guess so. I mean, why not?"

"Ask either Sasuke or Sakura to tell you beforehand, so that you know which is which whenever you need the knowledge. You should practice until you can almost instantaneously tell where the clone is, since you managed to master your modified _Reppuutoppa_."

Kakashi's orders were easier said then done. Sakura and Sasuke initially had as much trouble as Naruto at distinguishing the clone from the original, with poking the clone out of existence being the only method to do so. It took Sasuke to notice that Naruto himself would typically stay to the right of the clone when a single clone was conjured side-by-side with the original. This discovery was rather brusquely reported to Naruto (along with a scornful call of "dobe" for good measure) before they learned that Naruto's clone would often poof themselves out of existence out of petulance as soon as they learned their nature. It seemed that Kakashi did make a valid point when he asked Naruto about his clone's reaction, after all.

* * *

By the time the Genins had worked out all the kinks in their new maneuver, including one wherein Sakura's illusion was disrupted by the first fireball that entered the _genjutsu_'s field, the week's reprieve had already elapsed. The Genins followed Kakashi in escorting Tazuna to the bridge. While Naruto had wanted to help with the construction with his _Kage Bunshin_, Kakashi had insisted on Naruto limiting the number of clones until the two of them had a long theoretical discussion about the technique. In the meantime, Kakashi had allowed Naruto the use of three clones: one for each of Tazuna's relatives and one hiding safely around to complete the collaboration jutsu.

Unfortunately, a heavy mist on the bridge derailed any plans of construction. Instead, the chakra-laden fog seemed to forewarn of a fight between ninjas. This was confirmed when Zabuza and his masked attendant emerged from the mist to properly greet their obstacle.

"Greetings again, Konoha-nins. I trust you have been well?" If Zabuza had been near-death but a week ago, it certainly showed in neither his voice nor his easy gait, completely unhindered by the considerable weight of the _Kubikiri Houchou_ slung over one shoulder.

"Yo! Why, yes, we have been very well indeed. How about you? I see you can walk on your own power now. Congratulations!" Though Kakashi's tone was impertinent, his posture relaxed and his words condescending, the unveiled _Sharingan_ betrayed his unease.

Kakashi's precautions over his own uncertainty were proven useless, as Zabuza had apparently seen the significance behind Kakashi's casual gesture. The Demon of the Mist immediately retreated behind the veil of opaque mist even while mocking his opponent. "Ha! That old trick again? Won't fool me the second time around! This time, I know the perfect counter: zero visibility. If you can't see me, your _Sharingan_ can't predict. If I can't see your _Sharingan_, I won't succumb to either hypnosis or _genjutsu_. And this time, your little pets won't interfere: my tool will take care of them."

As commanded, the hunter-nin imitator stayed outside the fog, looking warily from one Genin to the next. Kakashi was loathe to leave his team to face this foe alone, even after they successfully completed the insane training schedule he had set for them. Something about the masked boy seemed off to Kakashi and Kakashi's instincts were very rarely wrong. Much to his chagrin, however, he couldn't see any way to circumvent his current predicament: this boy would still be a more favorable opponent for his young charges than Zabuza.

"Sakura, stay near Tazuna at all times," Kakashi called out. By his reckoning, Sakura should be the one least bothered by the distance to their target as her _genjutsu_ could be cast from afar. Reminding himself that he'd done all that he could to prepare his team, Kakashi grit his teeth and entered the mist.

* * *

Seeing Zabuza hale and hearty once more had badly shaken the Genins, even after having heard and agreed with Kakashi's reasoning. They had only survived their first encounter by the skin of their teeth, and were not quite ready for a second tussle. Even worse, while Kakashi was otherwise occupied by Zabuza, they had to face the masked boy, one whose cool demeanor was far more intimidating than any of Naruto's boisterous claims.

It was only when Kakashi barked his orders in short, clipped tones that the Genins regrouped. Their sensei ostensibly meant for Sakura to serve double-duty by protecting their client while casting the _genjutsu_ from afar. Sakura promptly complied with Kakashi's instructions, positioning herself between the bridge builder and their opponent while Sasuke and Naruto ran off to either side of the masked boy. While it would be preferable to initiate the maneuver while everyone was still fresh and chakra reserves were still high, the _genjutsu_ would only be convincing if the victim was distracted enough. Hence both boys had wanted the prestige of serving as decoy. Naruto fortunately had the good sense to note that synchronous execution of their jutsu would be easiest if they stayed on the same side of the masked boy. Naruto made a moue but nevertheless left the center stage to Sasuke and stood off in the sidelines, shurikens readied for throw in case a clean shot appeared.

* * *

When Sasuke had rushed to meet the masked boy, kunai drawn and readied, he had thought himself the victor of the encounter without requiring assistance from either of his teammates. After all, while his opponent was matching Sasuke's speed, there was no weapon in his hands, which was why Sasuke was jarred, badly, when the two met with a sharp 'clink'. As they simultaneously pushed off of each other to backflip away, Sasuke couldn't help but wonder what manner of sorcery had allowed his opponent to counter the slash. It was fortunate for the raven-haired Genin that he had chosen that very moment to reassess his opponent, as it allowed him to nimbly twist out of the way of the very three senbons that had parried the slash. Narrowing his eyes, he saw his opponent dance his way out of shurikens that Naruto liberally showered on his opponent. The masked boy was certainly not lacking in agility.

As soon as Naruto's impromptu volley started faltering, Sasuke charged in once more, this time pushing all of his speed into the attack. Again, his opponent met him stride for stride but instead of clashing in a frontal assault, he _twirled_ away from the strike and almost pierced Sasuke with a counterattack. Fortunately, they were by then near enough the side of the bridge that Sasuke could slip over the edge, using Kakashi's tree-walking exercise to flip back onto the bridge and attempting a second slash. However, there was now enough distance by then that his opponent once again retreated straight into Sakura's volley of shurikens. While Sakura's projectiles were faster, more accurate and strategically launched in comparison with Naruto's haphazard and wild throws, the hunter-nin imitator still shook it off without any apparent effort. Indeed, senbons even sped towards Tazuna every now and then.

It was only when Sakura was forced to pause her own attack to catch a particularly fast senbon that their opponent moved to claim the Genins' client. Sasuke pushed his speed as far as he could in order to intercept the boy and was surprised to find himself faster than the boy who had previously matched his speed without any strain. Despite this newly sprouted speed, he still failed to deal any significant damage, merely crisscrossing the metal mask with scratches and tearing out strips of clothes now and then.

After a particularly vicious strike, Sasuke's opponent's mask was torn off even as the latter swiveled away back into a safe distance away. This time, no projectiles greeted him. Instead, Naruto was the one who received a nasty surprise, judging by his strangled voice. "You? You're _Haku_? How could you? I thought you were so nice, picking herbs for your 'important person'!"

The now-identified Haku replied without a trace of emotion. "I serve Master Zabuza. I am but his tool, to do as he wishes. I gain my strength from my devotion to my master."

Sakura had seen this as the perfect opportunity to cast her _genjutsu_: the target was distracted and far enough from her teammates that they wouldn't be entangled along with the victim. Sasuke saw Sakura's subtle signal and blew the _Housenka no Jutsu_, hiding kunais inside the fireballs for good measure. This action seemed to draw Naruto back to the present as he subtly signed his way through the four handseals and slammed his modified _Reppuutoppa_ into Sasuke's fireballs. As practiced, three of the five fireballs suddenly grew into roaring mini-infernos as sharp tongues of flame protruded every which way right before they sped together incinerate Haku. To the Genins' consternation, the smoke cleared to reveal naught but a few shards of ice within a pool of water.

It was Sasuke who first saw Haku on the other side of the bridge, standing before another ice mirror. When he spoke, a glint of arctic cold seeped into his monotone.

"It seems you are all too skilled for me to toy with you. You have forced me to use _it_."

As before, Haku sprung for Sasuke and the two clashed. Sasuke used his advantage in pure speed to drive his kunai into Haku's senbon-holding hand. It was then that Haku did the unexpected by racing through one-handed seals while holding onto Sasuke's hand before the Genin could pull back his arm. Less than a second later, twelve ice mirrors rose from the ground around the two combatants, eight formed above the twelve and one crystallized parallel to the ground to complete the dome.

"This is _Hijutsu: Makyou Hyoushou_. I am afraid this is the end of you, as I will now show you the true meaning of speed," said Haku just as he stepped into a mirror. As if magically activated, an image of Haku appeared through each of the mirrors while Haku himself was nowhere to be seen. Twenty-one images of Haku lifted their left arms as one and slowly the mist around the hand condensed into three senbons. And then, the suspense was dispersed by countless senbons striking Sasuke from all directions.

* * *

Kakashi wondered how his Genins were doing. He had heard the telltale explosion even through the heavy mist. Thus, he knew that Sasuke and Naruto managed to synchronize their attacks even as Kakashi surmised from the lack of obstreperous boasting ringing in his ears that their opponent wasn't quite out of commission just yet. As Kakashi barely twisted his way out of the umpteenth slash of the giant sword without noting where Zabuza had retreated, he concluded that he couldn't afford to be thus distracted. As with the previous encounter, Zabuza had managed to tag him rather heavily before he started getting serious. Unlike last time, though, he couldn't rely on the _Sharingan_ as a trump card. Instead, it would seem that he would have to earn his 'genius' moniker the old-fashioned way. If he were honest with himself, the prospect of using his brain to fight his way out of this predicament thrilled him to no end.

* * *

"You have no hope of winning," Haku intoned. "If you convince your teammate to give up the bridge builder, there is no more reason for conflict. Therefore, doing so would be in your best interest."

"Shut UP!" Sasuke was riled up by his inability to even see his opponent until it was too late. For the first few minutes, Naruto had tried using his modified _Reppuutoppa_ to destroy the barrier of mirrors from the outside without success: each of the scratches on the mirrors disappeared even before the jutsu had run through its course. Sasuke had once tried creating a fire jutsu as ammunition for Naruto to use, but Haku had predictably prevented Sasuke from forming any seals.

Currently, it would seem that the dobe had lost his mind. As if Sasuke was insufficient as pincushion for Haku's senbons, Naruto offered himself as an additional practice target. Really, what was the dobe thinking? Sasuke was much faster than Naruto. Ergo, it should be a foregone conclusion that any foe faster than Sasuke would also be too fast for Naruto, negating the effect of his presence.

Sasuke was soon forced to revise his conclusion. Perhaps the dobe hadn't jumped in on one of his utterly idiotic urges for chivalrous nonsense. Instead, it was merely mostly idiotic: Sasuke got as far as the second seal for the _Goukakyu no Jutsu_ while Naruto provided a temporary cover for the both of them using his _Kage Bunshin_. Unfortunately, completing two of the six seals was on par with only completing one in terms of usefulness.

When Sasuke saw Naruto repeat his previous strategy, the raven-haired boy tried blazing through the six seals of the _Housenka no Jutsu_ only to be stopped while forming the third seal. In contrast to the first attempt, this time Sasuke believed he may have seen a flicker of movement, brief though it may have been. Sasuke wouldn't give up even while he acknowledged this as a lost fight, and thus he whispered next to Naruto's ear. "Dobe, I may have seen him move. Cover for me -I may be able to end this."

If Naruto was aware of the need for secrecy while forming a plan, he certainly showed no sign of it. "Sure thing," Naruto answered cheerfully. The area dutifully poofed with smoke that was quickly whittled down by a rain of senbons. Similarly, the sea of orange that had briefly flooded the area almost instantaneously dispelled back to a meager three right before the entire contingent of _Kage Bunshin_ disappeared completely. Despite their precarious situation, Sasuke was growing excited: he could start seeing movement blurring just outside the edge of his vision.

Before Sasuke could repeat his request, Naruto had anticipated it and responded by replenishing the area with more clones. Sasuke fervently hoped that his blond teammate would have enough stamina to sustain this process for a long time, as his eyes could still only barely see a blur. Naruto managed to surpass Sasuke's expectations: rather than simply reforming a protective barrier of cannon fodder every time it disappeared, he managed to bolster their ranks before either Genin was injured yet again. The increased length of time allowed Sasuke to improve on his previous performance, as he was now able to roughly follow the pattern. Though neither Genin were aware of it, Sasuke had awakened his dormant _Sharingan_.

One minute and thirty-two agonizing seconds later, Sasuke could even see Haku clearly enough to estimate the destination. Sasuke silently acknowledged Naruto's worth for shouldering the brunt of the attack before he turned to the offensive at long last. He threw several shurikens towards the predicted mirror, missing Haku by a hair's breadth. This was noticed by Haku, who narrowed his eyes dangerously. The next senbons were all aimed at Sasuke's vital points and thrown much more viciously, enough to pierce a clone and continue nearly unimpeded. Though the Uchiha could see the projectiles, he had started moving too late. Sasuke was prepared to die until Naruto unknowingly prevented the weapons from reaching their target when five clones sprouted just at the right places to slow down the senbons enough for Sasuke to dodge.

It was then that the unthinkable happened: Naruto reached his stamina limit. Panting heavily, the blond still forced himself to cross his fingers and started molding his chakra even as the ranks of the shadow clones dwindled to disturbingly sparse density. Though dizzy from exhaustion, Naruto managed to push his chakra outside his body and started stretching it to form humanoid shapes roughly corresponding to his own proportions when Haku had had enough of his interference. This time special senbons were aimed at Naruto's heart. Sasuke, with his newly awakened _doujutsu_ aiding his vision, was able to see the target while Haku was still within the mirror. Without thinking, Sasuke jumped in just in time to save Naruto much as the blond had interposed himself between the raven-haired Genin and Haku for the past few minutes. The senbon struck Sasuke in the heart and he slumped down, dead in mid-air.

* * *

Contrary to popular belief among ninjas, it is indeed possible to discern a life-force. While the chakra and life-force of a person share similar signatures, the latter is not quite the same as chakra, as it is a much more subtle element that is often hidden by chakra. Each person's life-force is as different as each person's life experiences; each one feather-light as a butterfly's flight and volatile as soap bubbles in a storm. Kakashi had withstood the grief of losing his father by burying himself with the ninja code of conduct and somehow lost his way in between the myriad edicts and precepts. When Obito had forcibly saved him from his own lifestyle and beliefs, Kakashi turned to altering his behavior as a show of goodwill in Obito's memory. And then, Kakashi had to adjust yet once more, this time accomodating the death of both his sensei and his remaining teammate by becoming apathetic. After all, if one didn't feel, one couldn't be hurt, not where it mattered.

Yet despite his care at distancing himself, there were still a few whose life-force he could feel: the Sandaime, Jiraiya and Maito Gai. Lately, however, three more names had wormed their way onto that carefully-locked list. First there was Naruto's; Naruto with his flamboyant yellow brilliance and the pain hidden so deep that perhaps he himself never knew its existence. And then, there was Sakura with her constant need to please others, shy and reserved, yet temperamental and vociferous. But then, there was also Sasuke… Sasuke's, much like his own, so shrouded in darkness that light simply ceased to exist but for brief, intense moments where everything was gloriously gilded. Sasuke's, which was there no longer.

Broken by reopened old wounds buried deep within his psyche, Kakashi barely dodged Zabuza's next hack. It took over twenty seconds of subconscious, reflexive weaving and bobbing before Kakashi noticed he was moving at all. It took two more seconds further before the assorted nicks and bruises spread across his entire body to register as tiny beacons of pain, discreet and fleeting as fireflies in the night. And then, when he was conscious enough of his surroundings to feel the pain, he also felt the _Kyuubi_'s chakra unfurling its presence and demanding respect for its terrible oppression, its presence that would brook no light or joy

It was then that he snapped out of his trance, and fury and grief and sheer, naked pain alike bubbled up, immediately supplying him with a way out of his predicament, with a solution that had been there along, waiting for him to acknowledge it. Kakashi snarled with rare emotion even as he ripped a scroll from his Jonin vest, not caring whether or not the pocket would survive the ordeal. Kakashi yanked blood from his thumb to splatter it across the seal and needlessly down the entire length of the paper as he unrolled it, as dirty and fuzzy as his own state of mind.

"You wanted me to show you some fight?" Kakashi was referring to an earlier comment, one made when the silver-haired Jonin was still apathetic to the world. Now, though, his tone gave pause to even Zabuza, Demon of the Bloody Mist. "I'll show you some fight. In fact, I'll end this fight. _Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu_!"

Kakashi barely pausing to let his dogs hold down Zabuza, for he had already finished his next sequence of handseals, minus the very last seal. While waiting for the fog to die down as a result of Zabuza's newly acquired injuries, Kakashi spoke. "People tend to forget that I was called a genius before I obtained a _Sharingan_. That is why I've decided to end this fight without any borrowed techniques. I'll even do you a favor and show you my favorite jutsu." By then, the fog had dissipated enough to form contours. Kakashi finished the last seal before continuing his speech. "It's an A-rank assassination jutsu. It's almost ironic how I've learned a few S-rank jutsu and countless A-rank jutsus using my _Sharingan_, considering that my favorite one is one I created myself before I had a _Sharingan_. It's called _Raikiri_. I hope you enjoy it."

His piece said, Kakashi thrust the shrieking mass of electrical energy forward at full speed.

* * *

Naruto had been shocked when Sasuke stepped in front of him to take the blow. Strategically speaking, Sasuke had the better chance at vanquishing Haku and they both knew it. Despite the logical incongruity, what had so surprised Naruto was not Sasuke's misplaced logic, but rather his willingness to sacrifice himself for a "dobe" like Naruto. Indeed, the shock was such that the blond settled into a trance-like state, unresponsive to the world while he replayed the event before a deep rage overcame him.

Unknown to Naruto was the deep howl of pain that the _Kyuubi_ let loose from within its cage. As Naruto had heard so often, Sasuke was the "last Uchiha" and, as such, the last one possessing the _Sharingan_ -only the lesser fraction of the _Kyuubi_'s original _doujutsu_ yet still a step up from the plain animal eyes the _Kyuubi_ was now saddled with, plain eyes that were unable to resist the _genjutsu_ that whelp of an Uchiha had cast using a horribly mutated and butchered _Sharingan_. If the Uchiha died then and there, the _Kyuubi_ would have forever lost the only part of its _doujutsu_ that remained on this side of the world!

It was only when the howl died down that the _Kyuubi_ realized that its chakra had somehow gained traction outside of the cage. It was but a trivial exercise for the _Kyuubi_ to surmise that this must be related to the emotional distress of his jailor, possibly enhanced by his own howls. Not one to waste an opportunity after so many years of uselessly attacking the _Shinigami_-empowered cage, the _Kyuubi_ concentrated, forcing his will on the chakra outside.

Though the _Kyuubi_ initially prepared for a contest of wills with his jailor much as the one his brethren suffered when bound to humans, Naruto's enraged state of mind suggested a different course of action, one much more apt for a Demon of the _Kyuubi_'s stature. Instead of fighting for control, the reins of control were safely left in Naruto's hands, unchallenged, while the _Kyuubi_ pumped rage-infused chakra into his host until the blond lost all semblance of thought, leaving the _Kyuubi_ free to pick up the slack. After all, the _Kyuubi_ had yet to avenge the loss of the last _Sharingan_ holder and was therefore all-too-happy to work with Naruto to claim however much control that Naruto abandoned. Soon enough, the _Kyuubi_ was granted unilateral control over Naruto's body.

The _Kyuubi_ took its time to study its opponent directly while he reacquainted itself with the feeling of control over the physical world. The boy, a certain Haku as he recalled, had obviously sensed that something had gone wrong, that his foe had mysteriously become much more dangerous even after suffering a great loss. Haku darted back into a mirror as if detecting the leashed killer intent, prepared to transport himself to another at the first hint of movement. His precautions turned out to be useless: a single Rooster handseal was made, followed closely by Tiger, Rat, Hare, Rat, Dragon and Rooster. _Tori_, _Tora,_ _Ne, Mi, Ne, Tatsu, Tori_; the seals for the _Kaze no Teisei_ were performed while blithely ignoring the myriad senbons frantically sailing through the air. After a moment of thought, a single Tiger seal was lazily formed before the _Kyuubi_'s voice rang out. "_Katon: Unari_."

With a primal scream, the _Kyuubi_ opened the floodgates to its chakra and its malevolent youki spilled out, filling the jutsu to the brink. In response, flames hotter than any _Katon_ jutsu ever created were compressed by sound waves and raced through the short distance between Naruto and the mirrors all around it. There was simply no contest: whereas the mirrors could withstand any number of _Goukakyus_ or merely cracked under the pressure of three _Repputoppa_-enhanced _Housenkas_ had Haku applied his will and stood his ground, all twenty-one slabs of ice, each chakra-enhanced and two feet thick, simply vanished into mist before the might of the _Kyuubi_'s newest jutsu.

Haku himself was forcibly ejected from his hiding place and landed on all fours, winded and disoriented. While he was still recuperating, Naruto-_Kyuubi_ strolled forward with measured paces and, arriving at the optimal location, nudged Haku with a youki-enhanced foot. The boy was sent flying several feet away before dropping onto the ground, retching. Unfortunately, there was to be no reprieve, for the _Kyuubi_ was as merciless as its reputation intimated. By the time Naruto_-Kyuubi_ left him enough pause for coherent thought_,_ Haku had acknowledged his loss: none of his attacks had made even the slightest dent and he was now unable to launch any.

"Please, Naruto, kill me. I dedicated my life to him; swore myself as his tool. I would fight anyone or do anything –_anything_— for him. But I am a useless tool now, a broken one. Zabuza has no need for broken tools."

Just as emotions had been the key for the _Kyuubi_ to drive Naruto over the edge, these simple words were sufficient for Naruto to slowly regain consciousness. The _Kyuubi_ now had to decide: would it be better to have a strategic retreat and leave without Naruto actively shooing him out, or would it be preferable to retain control and fight for it? In the end, it was Naruto who decided: a mere split-second after Haku's heartfelt plea was uttered, the blond was awake enough to slam most of the youki back towards the cage. It was then that the _Kyuubi_ thought of the obvious solution to the loss of the Sharingan: to drag the Uchiha's soul back into his body using the Shinigami's chakra, and to bind the soul into the body using the Shinigami's chakra to hold the soul and its own youki to revive the body.

While this procedure was impossible when restrained inside its cage, some wisps of youki still flitted about on the outside. Quickly, breathlessly, the _Kyuubi_ attempted the procedure and was gratified when it could feel the Uchiha's soul obey, returning back to its body from the middle of its crossing into the other realm. Even with this miracle in hand, the _Kyuubi_ could not afford to relax, as the boy still had a fatal injury that would prevent resuscitation. His lack of chakra was also problematic, as all the chakra at Sasuke's disposal had dissipated from the soul-body upon his death. Ever-so-slowly, the _Kyuubi_ gathered all of the residual youki left outside its cage and healed Sasuke's heart injury until it was merely critical rather than fatal, melting the ice senbon in the process.

Then, allowing time for the human soul to adapt to the alien chakra, youki was injected bit by tiny bit until the _Kyuubi_ had exhausted all of the youki it had stored within Naruto's body: a considerable pool in the ears, some in the right arm where it had broken during a fall, some in left flank where a villager had broken a beer bottle when Naruto was six years old, and countless other little caches of youki originally sent there for healing and then intentionally left there for strategic usage should the occasion ever arise.

Alas, there were no such reserves anymore and the _Kyuubi_ would have to make sure to offer its host more youki than usual for healing purposes. While those tiny reserves no longer answered directly to their caged owner as soon as they went out, it was now proven that such youki still responded to his will as long as he could control some youki outside the cage. The drawback was of no consequence to the _Kyuubi_: it now knew that all it needed to sidestep the Yondaime's innovative seal was a slip of control on Naruto's part. Given the labile nature of human emotions, the _Kyuubi_ had no doubt that it would get another chance at freedom. All the _Kyuubi_ had to do now was make sure that there would be an Uchiha from whom to take back whatever was left of its _doujutsu_.

* * *

True to Kakashi's orders, Sakura stayed at Tazuna's side. Whenever Haku would put distance between himself and Sasuke, either Sakura or Naruto would pepper him with projectiles. She watched carefully, waiting for the first opportunity to end the fight with their combination jutsu. When it came, Sakura duly initiated the sequence and was elated when everything went smoothly.

And then everything tumbled heads-over-heels downhill. Haku turned out to have a powerful _kekkei genkai_, the _Hyouton_. He first took advantage of his own injury to trap Sasuke within his _Hijutsu: Makyou Hyoushou_. Sakura had tried in vain to dispel the jutsu by throwing her weapons at the demonic mirrors. When Naruto attempted his dual _Repputoppa_, the scratches made were repaired much too quickly. Sakura initially cursed Naruto's stupidity when the latter jumped head-first into that helhole before realizing that Naruto might indeed increase Sasuke's chances at victory by blanketing most of the senbons via brute-force _Kage Bunshin_ shields. Though Sakura couldn't see much from the small spaces between the mirrors, she saw Sasuke eventually awaken his _Sharingan_ and silently cheered. Unfortunately, the needles were too many and too fast, and only Naruto's intervention saving Sasuke from certain doom.

Sakura's view of the next events was blocked, but she expected the worst when she heard Naruto shouting his teammate's name in anguish. Except that what happened next was worse then anything she could imagine: the entire dome was somehow dispelled with a single burst of fire, revealing Sasuke lying dead on the ground, senbons sticking from his chest right into his heart, while a red-cloaked monster with a thick, prehensile tail had replaced Naruto. This creature tormented Haku across the entire length of the bridge before the mist swallowed their passage.

When the mist started clearing, a loud sound, best described as a thousand birds chirping at once, filled the area. Naruto had come back for a moment before becoming a strange hybrid between the monster and his usual obnoxious self. Haku then created two more of those monstrous mirrors with his one-handed seals before stepping into one and disappearing, leaving Naruto alone to form an unfamiliar sequence of seals starting and ending with Rooster. A look of concentration later, he fell down face-first.

* * *

Haku had always served Zabuza faithfully from the moment they had met. After all, by taking Haku under his wings, Zabuza had made himself Haku's precious person, one for whom Haku would give everything. Yet Haku had been uneasy when Zabuza ordered the boy to abstain from the fight one week ago, unless of course in the unlikely event that Zabuza was grievously injured. Much to his surprise, Haku had been forced to intervene, even incapacitating his master for an entire week. Before the two groups of ninjas met again, Haku had offered his thorough analysis of the previous fight, though there wasn't much that Haku could contribute since Kakashi had relied mainly on his _Sharingan_, a single trick among the many that Haku was certain the Hatake knew. As such, Haku had recommended either covert assassination or at the very least basic intelligence gathering to assess the silver-haired Jonin's capabilities aside from the _Sharingan_-related tactics he had used in the last fight.

However, neither of those options was feasible: Kakashi, as ex-ANBU captain, would be much too sensitive for covert assassination to be successful and there was no time to study their opponents, as the bridge would be completed in a matter of days. Thus, the mismatched pair of ninjas set out to attack the Konoha ninjas in a return match.

At the beginning, things were slightly in favor of the ex-Kiri duo, though things slowly took a turn for the worse until Haku stepped in to sacrifice himself in Zabuza's place. Or at least, that was the intention if the blond hadn't blasted him out of space with some fast-travelling jutsu. Now Zabuza was dead, and Haku could no longer find the motivation to do anything, much less stand up despite his creaking joints and aching muscles. Even these discomforts, blaringly insistent but a moment ago, faded against the tragedy of his master's demise. The Konoha ninjas regrouped and buzzed with discussion, the topic unknown. Though spying on them would have been easy, Haku could not bring himself to make the effort. His master was dead; the tool was useless.

There was a noise that started in the distance, a rumbling typical of large groups of people chattering all at once. The sound grew clearer and soon the ground shook with the light tremors of people walking along leisurely. Before long, Haku could make out the sound of weapons clumsily clinking against each other. And then, Haku could deduce that a mob approached, a crew of over fifty drunkards armed with weapons of dubious quality. A voice then spoke, grating and aggravating; a voice that Haku knew only too well: the voice of Gatou.

"The Demon of the Mist? What kind of pathetic demon can't even take care of one scarecrow and three kids? Hah! More like a baby puppy!" Snorting in contempt, Haku could hear the sound of a foot ineffectually striking flesh. Haku almost started.

"At least, one of them's dead. Hmph. Still useless." Haku was riled by Gatou careless disregard of his master. This was nothing new, as Gatou had only kept his distance from the missing-nin due to his own physical ineptitude.

"Good thing I never planned to pay this Zabuza character. What kind of demon can be bought, anyway?" Haku checked his chakra reserves for possible action against Gatou. Nobody should desecrate the dead, much less the memory of his master. Unfortunately, there wasn't much left after his fight and the grievous wounds he had sustained, and whatever well of chakra had miraculously sprung when he saw his Master in mortal peril had long since dried out. Nevertheless, Haku still propped himself up to one shoulder. By now, Gatou was nearly wheezing from the effort of kicking Zabuza all the way through the fifty centimeters to the nearest edge of the bridge. All three Konoha-nins were tense, especially the two Genins standing behind Kakashi, and even Kakashi held his kunai in his right hand and countless shurikens in the left.

"Perhaps we should just feed him to the fish, eh?"

And that was the breaking point, the straw that broke the camel's back. Subconsciously using his life-force as chakra much as he had earlier, Haku sprung up and used his still-intact mirror to propel himself away. Though it wasn't quite as fast as his usual mirror-to-mirror dashes, it was still more than enough to shove Gatou away from Zabuza and into the water. After sparing a moment to glare at the assorted thugs, Haku raised his hands and summoned his _kekkei genkai_ to freeze Gatou in mid-scream. One kunai toss later, Gatou was literally in pieces, bloody shards carried away by the water current. When Haku turned back to the thugs, they were murmuring loudly amongst themselves. It seemed they reached a consensus of sorts: the _de facto_ leader broke from the group to address Haku.

"Hey, little girl! You killed our paycheck. Now pay us or else!"

Haku narrowed her eyes. He had never felt at ease with scum such as these. However, his morals still dictated that he should attempt a diplomatic resolution before slaughtering them. "You would do well not to threaten me, for I am ninja."

The men had not seen Haku control ice to do his bidding, nor did they see the power of Haku's ninja arts. As such, they were greatly amused by the thought of a single child thus addressing them and showed no restraint when they guffawed. After their mirth receded, the leader turned his attention back to Haku.

"Little girl! You'd better have good money, or we'll find other ways for you to pay us!"

Narrowing his eyes, Haku summoned his ice to form countless senbons. While the mob before him gawked, Haku started slaughtering them one by one before they turned tail, running away from this infernal slaughter. Their flight was cut short when villagers suddenly appear with Inari standing in the frontline, resolutely barring the way. It was then that Haku's newfound energy finally faltered and the boy dropped down, dead.

The mob cheered when they saw this, despite having lost more than half of its members, only to be crushed the villagers rallied by Inari chose that very moment to charge forward. Not a single enforcer hired by Gatou survived the day.

* * *

After killing Zabuza, Kakashi had finally managed to calm down Sakura. They'd already concluded that Haku probably wouldn't cause them any trouble despite Kakashi having slain Zabuza. In the distance, they could hear men marching down towards the bridge. Naruto was down and temporarily out of commission, as he'd exhausted even his own considerable reserves by continuously creating cover for both Sasuke and himself through abuse of the _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ even before engaging that silliness with a Wind jutsu.

When the men emerged from the misty shroud, it was clear that they were a hostile crowd –Gatou's crowd, to be precise. While the Konoha-nins would normally simply attack these ruffians, especially given how such an action would be well within the mission parameters, the odds were stacked heavily against them: they had already lost one teammate while two of the remaining ninjas were out of commission as well. Thus, they were forced to stand aside to watch as Gatou made a fool of himself by nearly tripping over himself while kicking Zabuza's corpse.

Fortunately for them, Haku couldn't bear to see his master's body thus maltreated. Haku proceeded to kill Gatou and plowed through much the mercenaries' ranks with ice senbons before succumbing to his injuries. By then, their surprise reinforcements had arrived: Inari's outlook had turned around and he somehow managed to rally the village behind him with his newfound entusiasm. Though Gatou's men were better armed and in superior physical condition, the villagers had number and determination on their side. The conflict lasted less than five minutes.

* * *

_Drip… Drip… Drip… _By the time Naruto was conscious of his surroundings, the random rhythm of water falling down drop by drop had long since etched itself into his mind, as inevitable as the sun rising in the morning and inexorable as the passage of time -each drop louder than thunder, softer than a whisper. _Drip_. For all that one would associate water with cold, this place, wherever it was, enveloped Naruto with warm. Quite oppressively so; the heat bearing down on Naruto, all around him, cloying him, rancid as caproic acid, smothering him like too-thick scents of cinnamon leaving no room to breath. _Drip._ Naruto opened his eyes.

The ceiling was low and appeared almost crumbling, with jagged teeth reaching down here and there ini resemblance to blood dripping from a wound. Rock walls glistened from a sheen of condensed water and though sounds should echo off the cavernous environs, drops of water crisply and sharply announced contact with the ankle-deep body of water that lapped at Naruto's face. _Drip._ When Naruto stood up after an indeterminate period of time, he was surprised to find himself immediately dry, despitesoaking in liquid but a moment ago. He shrugged his shoulders at the incongruity before he trudged forward, his splashes reverberating eerily where the dripping droplets did not. _Drip_.

Naruto wandered about, no particular direction or intent in mind. His feet led him forward, one splash at a time, until the still pool was now knee-deep and Naruto saw a narrow mouth to the cavern he was in, gusts of heat pouring in from the aperture as from a well-stocked hearth. Even more foreboding, however, was the sense of dread Naruto felt from crossing into that room. It was as though some malicious entity were lying in wait, ready to pounce on any unfortunate or foolhardy enough to risk their very souls by setting foot across the threshold, as debilitating as the miasma of killer intent rolling off of a powerful ninja. Yet there was no killer intent leaking from the room, no chakra dispersing along a gradient vector: the air was still –too still, and stale as the water on the ground.

Naruto stood transfixed for a while before his feet once again started moving of their own accord. Naruto blinked, and found himself crossing through the opening. The sight that greeted him on the other side was a startling contrast to the previous chamber: the ceiling, if any there was, rose out of view and the walls stretched out until darkness consumed them. Despite the change in sheer size, this was not what held Naruto's gaze level, transfixed. Instead, it was a hole in the wall covered by bars, a crevice as large as his apartment building with bars thicker than he was tall. Behind the cage raged an inferno, blazes quivering every which way and roaring in hunger for more fuel, decrying the lack of matter to devour and licking itself in anticipation of the future mayhem it would wring.

For all the chaos and movement behind the cage, however, the room itself was just as constricting as the one he had vacated but a step ago, the water flat as a mirror outside the cage and frothing angrily inside it. A few moments later, it hissed as it boiled off, yielding before the renewed intensity of the flames that slowly merged and solidified into the form of a giant fox. A giant fox that grinned a smile of sharp teeth and buzzing fire.

"So we meet, little one." The voice was low and gravelly, one with the crackling flames and bubbling water surrounding the creature.

"Who are you? _What_ are you?" Naruto's whimpers were punctuated by tremors in his voice, in his entire body. When, instead of answering, the twenty-foot-tall canid simply showed more of his maw, Naruto had given up hope of learning anything and decided to flee instead. The barrier still prevented any chakra or killer intent from reaching through, yet the blond could still tell that this creature of fire reeked of power, of strength beyond reckoning.

Just as Naruto managed to get to his feet, the massive beast flicked its tails. Its nine tails. Nine… "You're the _Kyuubi_? _You_'re the _Kyuubi_! But how could I see you; you're sealed inside me!"

The _Kyuubi_ was well aware of Naruto's wandering thought process and had no wish to waste its time on such frivolities. There were other matters to attend to, matters of life and death. The _Kyuubi_ startled Naruto into silence by letting loose a rumbling chuckle that would have leveled villages were the _Kyuubi_ out of its cage. "You don't know what happened, do you?" At this, incandescent red eyes suddenly trained themselves back onto Naruto, boring down onto the blond's very soul, his whisper whip-sharp. "You insolent _whelp_! You almost got me killed; by a cross-dressing teenager no less! Utterly degrading. If I hadn't intervened, we would have both died. Useless mortal, incapable of even looking after himself!"

"What happened to Haku?"

"What happened to Haku? You _dare_ ask me what happened to Haku? Have you no shame at all? After you'd almost -_almost_- gotten the Uchiha killed by your incompetence, this... this…" The _Kyuubi_ floundered for a suitable human word conveying the proper connotation. There were none, not in the human tongue, and he settled with injecting as venomous a tone as he could manage. "This _Haku_ was about to kill you! Good thing that I shared control with you right then, or else I would have died. Me, the _Kyuubi no Youko_, the most powerful by far of the immortal _Bijuu_, the very incarnation of fire and wind destruction! As it was, we almost killed Haku. Would have, too, if your soft-hearted weakling heart hadn't decided to throw a tantrum before the final blow. As it was, Haku killed himself foolishly to 'defend his master's honor'. Or perhaps friendship, or out of loyalty -honor, valor, loyalty, friendship; all are the same in the eyes of the _Bijuu_: useless drivel conjured by mortals to cover their own failings."

As expected, Naruto decided to focus one single morsel of information from the entire diatribe, though he hadn't dared interrupt the _Kyuubi_ in the middle of a rant. "Wait. You said that Sasuke was almost killed. Does that mean he's still alive?"

"Yes, yes, he's alive –isn't that what I said?"

"How would you know? He was shot in his heart; that's a fatal wound!"

The _Kyuubi_ cocked his head while inspecting Naruto with all the interest of a scientist observing an insect: breath bated to avoid bowling the subject over, and eyes squinted to better view insignificant details. "What do you know; the idiot midget does comprehend the general location of the heart. The Uchiha was shot through the chest, straight toward the heart. Sufficient observation should have revealed an infinitesimal amount of chakra left in his body, however. In case simpletons require further clarification, it implies he's still alive. It so happens the senbon didn't penetrate deep enough in his chest to pierce the heart."

"I see. That's great!" The _Kyuubi_ flicked its giant ears, ostensibly annoyed by the tiny boy's voice, one entirely disproportionate to the speck of dust before it. "I thought he was dead for sure."

"Idiot. Now shoo, let me repair that frail contraption you call an ear."

"Huh?"

"Mortal, just get _out_!" As if the yell of a _Bijuu_ were not enough, the _Kyuubi_ hurled all nine of its flailing tails against the cage, rattling it while the bars glowed a deep crimson to hold in the _Kyuubi_.

Naruto, who had forgotten he was in the presence of a demon, was now reminded that this was not a ten-story-tall stuffed toy but The Demon Fox, the very scourge that had killed almost half of Konoha's entire ninja population in a matter of hours, the King of the nine _Bijuu_. The blond scampered off, back whence he came, until he remembered that he didn't know the way out. "Uh, _Kyuubi_-sama, how do I… y'know, get outta here?" Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously while hoping that the _Kyuubi_ wouldn't chew him out for asking such an inane question.

While the _Kyuubi_ didn't literally chew out Naruto, the latter received an earful. "You blasted, empty-headed mortal! Is there anything within your puny grasp? If the _Kaze no Teisei_ is too complex for you without tearing out your eardrums, don't you at least know how to get out of your own subconscious? Must I tell you everything?" Seeing the blond cower but still present in the dark chamber, the _Kyuubi_ let out a long-suffering sigh. "You truly are ignorant to the point you can't exit your own chakrascape, aren't you? Fine, I will concede as much, if only to remove your filthy presence from me. Lie down in the water and think whatever suits your fancy think to wake up."

"What I think to wake up?"

"**Rargh**!" Once again, the bars emitted an ominous red while keeping the _Kyuubi_ at bay, preventing the roar from decimating the entire chakrascape. "Open your eyelids, or ramen, or… anything! Now scram!"

As per the _Kyuubi_'s instructions, Naruto laid down and closed his eyes. Soon enough, the blond sank into the floor, oblivious to the _Kyuubi_'s cackle. "The fool! He didn't even notice that the bars should be glowing black, or that the needle did pierce Sasuke's heart. Even if Naruto did inform more competent mortals, they still would be unable to decipher my plans. It was a rather elegant tough to ensure he'd notice it when I said that Sasuke _almost_ died. Feh! Stupid humans, meddling with Demons." With that condemnation, the _Kyuubi_ relieved the bars of his chakra, revealing scores of inches-deep scratches, most of them new. "Now, to save that tiny ear of his…"

* * *

Naruto saw wooden planks as soon as he lifted his eyelids. 'Huh?' Naruto saw wooden planks stretching across his field of vision until he tilted his head up. He was still laying face-where he had fallen after blasting Haku out of Kakashi's path with his jutsu. As Naruto pushed himself off the ground with a grunt, he was pleasantly surprised to find that most of his senbon-related injuries were gone and that his hearing was back to normal. However, Naruto had more on his mind than wondering whether his prisoner was indeed repairing his body, more pressing matters than verifying the state of his ears. By the time he scooted close to the Uchiha, Sasuke had started showing signs of regaining consciousness.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Sakura cast Naruto a glare, but the latter seemed oblivious to her vitriolic disposition. "Teme's still alive!"

Kakashi was the first to react to the outrageous declaration. "Naruto, this is no time for pranks."

"But it's not a prank," whined Naruto. "Why doesn't anyone think I'm serious? Look for yourselves: he's breathing!"

And indeed he was. Kakashi immediately sped to Sasuke's side and verified his pulse. While extremely weak, Kakashi concluded that Sasuke, through some miracle, was alive. Kakashi nevertheless proceeded to gauge Sasuke's life force, unable to trust his senses, and only let out an exhausted sigh when the Jonin felt its presence. "Sakura, this isn't a bad joke," he announced while heading towards Tazuna to assess the condition of the bridge. "Sasuke is alive."

Sakura darted faster than either ninja thought possible and crushed Sasuke in a hug with tears streaming down her face. "Oh, Sasuke-kun! I thought Naruto had cost you your life. I'm so happy you survived that!"

"Sakura," came a muffled voice beneath Sakura's shoulder. "Get off me. You're annoying!"

"Heh! Teme's awake!"

As soon as Sakura released Sasuke from her death-grip, the latter turned to Naruto. "Did you take care of Haku?"

"I… don't really know. I sorta, well, blanked out for, uh, a coupla minutes."

A frown stormed through Sasuke's face. "You _don't know_?"

"I think I did. Anyways, I was told Haku killed himself to avenge Zabuza."

"Hold on," interrupted Sakura, as quick as ever to make connections. "We haven't told you yet. How would you know? Who told you?"

It was Sasuke who saved Naruto from an uncomfortable explanation. "Hn. Who cares about the _dobe_?" This time, Sasuke directed his attention to Sakura. "I want to know what happened to Haku."

Sakura obliged with a quick summary of the events, though she was ignorant of what it was exactly that Naruto had done to obtain so much power. Hearing this, a scowl marred Sasuke's features.

"What did you do?"

It was then that Kakashi returned. "Yo! I've got good news: the bridge didn't suffer too badly from the fight. But I don't think any of us are fit to work, so we'll just go home. Sakura, if you could help Sasuke, I'll escort Tazuna with Naruto."

As expected, Sakura was prompt to obey the command. Sasuke, however, would not let go of his question quite so easily. "Dobe, just answer the question first. What did you do?"

Kakashi glared at Sasuke with his single eye. "I'll handle this, Sasuke. Go back with Sakura. Naruto?"

Kakashi knew that the _Kyuubi_'s chakra had come out. He had also noticed how Naruto's speech had regressed significantly, and surmised that Naruto was badly shaken. Connecting these two observations, Kakashi concluded that whatever it was that Naruto had to say would probably concern his tenant and therefore would be a conversation best kept secret. Thus, over the entire trek back and during the course of lunch, Kakashi headed off all questions for Naruto's strange red form. It was only afterwards that Kakashi called Naruto to the docks, away from others.

"Naruto, what do you remember happening?"

"Well, I tried to protect me and Sasuke with shadow clones, but Haku just kept popping them out. Then I got too tired and barely got my clones out in time to protect Sasuke, and then the guy shot at me, except Sasuke jumped in front of me, and then he died. Or rather, he didn't, but looked like he did. After that, I sorta don't remember for a while, 'till Haku begged me to kill him 'cause he's now a 'broken tool' or some such nonsense -"

"Wait," interrupted Kakashi, "go back a bit. You don't remember for a while?"

"Well, all I know is that I got really angry that that Haku guy killed Sasuke and I… I dunno, saw red, I guess."

"Do you mean literally? Did red specks cloud over your vision?"

Naruto nodded emphatically. "Yes, that's it exactly. Do you know what that means? The _Kyuubi_ told me that he…"

"_Kyuubi_? The _Kyuubi_ talked to you? When?"

"After I knocked Haku off of Zabuza, I blacked out and I woke up in this cave-like place. That's where I met the _Kyuubi_."

Ah, therein laid the source of Naruto's anxiety. Kakashi would have been worried if Naruto managed to act normally after an audience with the King of _Bijuu_. "And what did the _Kyuubi_ say?"

"He said that I'd almost let me and Sasuke get killed because I'm incompetent, and that it's a good thing Sasuke was almost killed because that way I got so mad that the _Kyuubi_ shared control of my body and almost killed Haku, except that Haku shook me back into control before getting himself killed in revenge for his master."

Kakashi tucked his chin into his hand, thoughts racing in all directions. From Naruto's bumbling report, it seemed that the _Kyuubi_ was rather pleased at gaining control for a while, which would fit in well with current data. However, Kakashi didn't miss the specific term used –"shared" control, a very un-Naruto-like phrase. That would imply that Naruto had some control over the actions. Yet if he'd remembered nothing at all, if his vision had "redded" out, then what exactly was it that was shared?

Or perhaps the _Kyuubi_ was simply tormenting Naruto, which seemed a much more likely explanation. The _Kyuubi_ also seemed rather put out at losing his reins with but a few words from Haku, though that too was to be expected. All in all, nothing much about the encounter was very revealing, except that the encounter itself had taken place. Naruto had to have been severely depleted of chakra for him to wind up in _that_ place and given Naruto's reserves, such a thing would be highly suspect in itself. Yet Kakashi had also seen just how many senbons were left on the ground around Sasuke, a testament to Naruto's ability to think "outside" the box (or rather, Kakashi thought with a snort, thinking without any sort of boxes around!).

Turning his attention back to Naruto, Kakashi gave his recommendations. "Once again, just so you're clear, you don't have to tell Sakura and Sasuke about your special prisoner. However, if you want to tell them, now would be as good a moment as you're likely to get. If you want to blame me for the delay, that's fine with me. After all, it's not like you guys don't hate me, right?" An eye-smile later, Kakashi continued. "But I need to know what to tell them. Do you want to tell them or not?"

Naruto looked lost, standing straight on the docks and gazing far away where the sea reached up to mingle with the sky. On one hand, he really should let his teammates know: they deserved to know, as teammates if not friends. Then again, Naruto wasn't quite certain the risk was worth it: they were some of the few people who would tolerate his presence. If they rejected the distinction between the _Kyuubi_ and its jailer, Naruto would once again be without a team, without comrades his own age. Then again, if they were unable to see the distinction, were they worth his time even as associates?

"Sure."

Kakashi started. He'd first expected Naruto to immediately bray to the entire world that it wouldn't be a problem, that his teammates should know. Therefore, Kakashi had been geared towards an immediate rebuttal of that notion: they were humans, too, and would likely have an instinctual rejection of Naruto until their good sense could be appealed to. When Naruto failed to give an answer within the first few seconds, Kakashi had instead prepared to convince Naruto that as teammates, they deserved to know, for the sake of teamwork if nothing else. Furthermore, they might be able to deduce the truth from Naruto's red cloak of chakra even if no one told them. If that were the case, then their trust might be forever lost. Of course, such an argument would probably fall on deaf ears after Naruto encountered the _Kyuubi_: even seasoned Jonins could not be faulted with fleeing before the mighty Tailed Demon, much less a rookie Genin.

This, however, was unexpected. "Sure, I'll tell them. They're my teammates and it wouldn't be very nice if I kept it any longer from them. I mean, Sasuke gave his life for me! Plus, like Haku said, I'd do anything for them: face an impossible opponent, or even this."

As usual, Naruto's unexpected growth left Kakashi speechless. Much as he had told Zabuza, Naruto truly was Konoha's most unpredictable ninja. "I see. I'm happy that you've decided that; it shows a maturity I wouldn't have expected from any Genin. Now, is there something else you want to tell me?"

"Huh?" Or perhaps Naruto's 'growth' had more to do with a fluke than maturity, after all.

"Was there something that you've kept from me?"

"That I've kept from you?"

"Yes, like how you blasted Haku out of place?"

"But, wasn't that like a modified _Repputoppa_? Or did I do something different?" After meeting with the _Kyuubi_, Naruto had truly forgotten that he'd rushed through the more familiar sequence of the _Kaze no Teisei_ rather than the easier _Repputoppa_, even though the Tailed Demon did remind him of that fact. Coupled with Naruto's poor execution of the _Kaze no Teisei_, Kakashi had no way to conclude which technique Naruto had used and therefore accepted Naruto's statement rather than Sakura's description of a "weird technique".

"Oh, is that what it was? Alright, then, let's go to the others."

* * *

Back in the kitchen, Kakashi ordered a team briefing and brought his squad back to their room. Due to the nature of the secret about to be revealed, Kakashi hushed Sasuke's demands for information as he placed some pre-made seals across the room, ensuring that no one outside the room would be able to hear anything.

"Before we begin," started Kakashi, "what Naruto has decided to tell you is an S-rank secret."

Sasuke couldn't contain his impatience any longer. "How could the dobe possibly know an S-rank secret? I don't care about that. I want to know what he did, and why you won't let him answer!"

Kakashi fixed Sasuke with a glare that sent Sasuke squirming back into his seat. Uchiha or not, Kakashi could be rather intimidating if he chose so, as the latter learned from Obito. After Sasuke could no longer look at his sensei in the eye, Kakashi continued: "That was a stupid question, Sasuke."

The addressed Genin flashed a look of annoyance but quickly repressed it before Kakashi could berate him further. "Going back to what I was about to tell you before Sasuke so rudely interrupted, this means that what is said in this room _stays in this room_. If you repeat any of it without express permission from either Naruto or the Hokage, you immediately become a missing-nin and will be hunted down. It doesn't matter if you are drunk or if you're gossiping with your best friend: you are not to reveal this under any circumstance unless you've been given explicit and provable permission."

After a pause to make sure his Genins would remember the severity of the situation, Kakashi turned to Naruto with an eye-smile. "Naruto?"

"Ne, thanks, Kakashi. I'm, uh, well… Perhaps I should start at the beginning."

"Dobe, just get to the point!"

"Teme, I was getting to the point, so shut up!"

Sakura stayed uncharacteristically silent throughout this latest exchange, causing Kakashi to shoot her a furtive glance. She was looking strangely at Naruto, as if she hadn't quite decided who he was, _what_ he was. This did not bode well for Naruto's acceptance. Nevertheless, Naruto had already set his mind for the right reasons and Kakashi resolved to speak to the pink-haired Genin in private, if necessary.

"When the _Kyuubi_ attacked, he was never killed by the Yondaime."

"Baka Naruto! Of course he was; we learned that in the Academy. You would have, too, if you'd paid attention!" It seemed Sakura had decided for now to treat Naruto as usual.

Before Kakashi could intervene, Naruto plowed on. "The cover story for the S-rank secret _I was about to reveal_…" Here, Kakashi couldn't prevent a snicker as Naruto fixed Sakura with a glare. "… is that the Yondaime defeated the _Kyuubi_, which is true. He defeated the _Kyuubi_ at the cost of his own life so that the Yondaime could seal the _Kyuubi_ into a baby. Into me."

"Hn! As if a dobe like you could have a seal for the _Kyuubi_ that the Yondaime himself put in you."

Kakashi understood how shocking this information would be and was prepared to give a demonstration. "Naruto, mold your chakra."

"Wha?"

"I will prove to them that you do in fact contain the _Kyuubi_. Naruto, mold your chakra, please."

Trusting his sensei, Naruto molded his chakra as ordered. Once Kakashi was certain that it was enough, he lifted Naruto's shirt abruptly, causing Naruto to lose concentration and drop his chakra levels back to the resting state. Sasuke and Sakura both gaped at Naruto's torso as an intricate seal, much more complex than power generators or anything else they had ever seen, was wound around the blond's navel. Slowly, it faded back to nothing as it adapted to Naruto's state.

With his students properly impressed, Kakashi confirmed Naruto's story. "That was the genius of the Yondaime. No one else could defeat the _Kyuubi_ without a trump-card _kekkei genkai_, much less hold him to a seal and force him in. But our late Hokage managed to seal him into a newborn baby."

Surprisingly, it was Sasuke who made the connection to recent events. "Hmph. So the dobe cheated to win against Haku?"

"Teme! You couldn't win against Haku either, and you had the _Sharingan_!"

"Naruto raises a good point," intervened Kakashi. He hadn't missed how pale Sakura had gotten. "If using the _Sharingan_ isn't cheating, how would using the _Kyuubi_'s chakra be any different?" Sullen, Sasuke looked away. Glad that his point was received by one squad member, Kakashi turned back to the group in general. "Any questions?"

Sakura spoke so softly that even Naruto had to strain his ears to catch her words. "So Naruto is the _Kyuubi_?"

Naruto blanched and looked away. This was his worst fear: his teammates mistaking him for his tenant, refusing to let him in their vicinity. Kakashi saw this from the corner of his eyes and decided to treat this issue on his own. "Naruto, Sasuke, is there anything you want to ask or add?" Hearing no response, Kakashi ushered them out before turning back to the other occupant of the room. "Sakura, what was your first impression of Naruto?"

"Naruto… always was strange."

"Really? What about the 'idiot in orange who doesn't know how to shut up' you hated so much when we started?" Sakura looked down, not sure how to react. "And what about the baka you so love to hit at any occasion? Would the _Kyuubi_ really let you hit him over the head without killing you?"

"But that was just… Naruto. You didn't see what he'd become on the bridge, when he was fighting Haku."

'Ah,' thought Kakashi, 'therein hid the source of the problem.' Speaking out loud, Kakashi said: "No, I didn't. But I felt the _Kyuubi_'s chakra leaking through Naruto, coursing through his veins. Do you have any idea what Naruto's gone through for his life?" Sakura raised her eyes back to gaze at Kakashi, perplexed at the sudden change in subject.

"Did you know that the Hokage gave him an apartment to live on his own because he was always beaten and mistreated at the orphanage? Did you know that Naruto had to learn to cook on his own because no one was there to show him when he moved out? Did you know that Naruto learned to read on his own because no one was there to teach him? Did you know that Naruto now owns the entire building because the previous owner overcharged him and was about to evict him? Did you know that he's never able to leave his apartment on his birthday because the villagers would attack him?

"Of course you never knew that: nobody ever reported the incidents because Naruto was the only one hurt and _he_ never complained about any of it. Yet through all this, he's kept us safe from the _Kyuubi_, even when he had good cause to unleash the monster on us. Such as when you hit him for no good reason except that you couldn't take a little disturbance from your daydreams. In fact, it was only when he thought his teammate dead that he let the _Kyuubi_ take some control. Even then, all it took was a few words from Haku for Naruto to kick the _Kyuubi_ back into its cage. So think about that before you confuse Naruto for the _Kyuubi_, would you? After all, he only let it out for your sake, and even then he was still in control enough to refrain from delivering the final blow to an enemy before he was certain it was warranted."

Sakura's answer was meek but sincere. "I'll try."

"And that's all I can ask. Now get out, I'm tired and I want to read."


	8. Ch7 Road to Chunin Exams

The next morning, Kakashi and his team accompanied Tazuna to the bridge, whistling a tuneless melody. For the first time since the encounter with the _Oni Kyoudai_ back near Konoha, they enjoyed the gilded kiss of sunlight on their faces and marveled at the sight of the building. Though there were still some unresolved issues, a good night's sleep had done much to polish off the frayed edges clashing between the Genins. Already, Sakura had reintroduced Naruto's rather thick cranium to her knuckles twice this morning. The blond couldn't have been happier to see that she no longer shied away from him after yesterday's events.

In truth, Sakura was forcing herself to act as she normally would around Naruto and found Naruto's familiar mannerisms rather helpful for her daunting task. Indeed, what other response could she possibly enact when Naruto insulted Sasuke, or slurped his noodles without care for the sprayed soup? Soon after they left, Sakura found herself forgetting about Naruto's tenant most of the time and focused instead on setting the bouncing blond ball back to a more sedate state. As usual, however, she was forced to admit defeat within a few minutes, even before they started working on the construction of the bridge.

With Kakashi and Naruto free of their previous reservations, the area was filled to the brim with ninjas eager to help. Surprisingly, Naruto knew what to do and wasn't quite the klutz his teammates had learned to expect from their missions in Konoha. Kakashi especially took delight in pointing this out to the other Genins as a water clone far away giggled maniacally: it wasn't so much that Naruto had improved as that Kakashi had stopped sabotaging the blond's work. After all, though the team was back on speaking terms, they could still use all the help they could get to reestablish teamwork, and removing hindrances such as Kakashi-induced movement of woodlogs just beneath Naruto's foot would only help in this regard.

* * *

By the time the crew broke away for lunch, Tazuna was hopping from foot to foot in anticipation. With the ninjas' abilities to stand on water even while carrying heavy loads, the construction had sped to the point where the basic framework was already completed with none dragging their feet yet. Truly, the strength of a ninja was hard to gauge: who would have guessed that even the blond shrimp would be able to make so many copies of himself, each easily able to lift bundles of steel poles? All that remained was nailing planks to the support beams, a job quite easily accomplished with Naruto's _Kage_ _Bunshins_ and Kakashi's _Mizu_ _Bunshins_. Indeed, by 3:00PM, the bridge was entirely completed and glazed over with three coats of paint.

The time spent working together once more on a mundane mission was sufficient for Sakura and Sasuke to accept Naruto as the _jinchuuriki_ of the _Kyuubi_, even if Sakura was still rather squeamish every time she remembered about Naruto's red form. The blond bore the awkward pauses and stilted conversation with good grace, however, and the team left with their usual chatter: Naruto milling around Sakura (earning several head traumas in the process), Sakura darting her eyes towards Sasuke every so often and the latter too busy brooding to care about the antics of his teammates.

It was the sight of such a comfortable camaraderie between ninjas that left Tazuna and his crew as they sent the ninjas on their way back to their village. These Konoha-nins had done much to change the people of Wave Country: despite ninjas' reputation as being cold-blooded killers with money to substitute for morals and conscience, these ones had not only shown honor in completing the mission well beyond the call of duty, but they had managed to regroup the villagers, to kindle their courage to the point where they dared stand against Gatou's henchmen. Or rather, one of the Genin students convinced his peers to prolong their protection of Tazuna as well as incited Inari to rally the villagers' collective pride.

With an indulgent smile, Tazuna reflected on how the blond had managed to surprise him at every step even as he waved goodbye to Kakashi's team. As it turned out, the "idiot in orange" knew better than to wear bright colors during missions and wasn't quite the idiot after all, first impressions aside. As the ninjas first shrank into specks before disappearing over the horizon, Tazuna made a decision.

The bridge-builder turned around to see those who had gathered to see their heroes off. In short, the entire capital of Wave Country was gathered at the mouth of the newly-constructed bridge.

"Hey, you know, we haven't given a name to this bridge." Seeing murmurs of assent ripple through the crowd, Tazuna took in a breath before announcing his suggestion. "How about we call it the 'Great Naruto Bridge' in honor of the Genin who saved Inari from the thugs and got him to rally us together?"

A unanimous roar of approval answered him.

* * *

"Ne, Kakashi, do you really think it's alright to just take Zabuza's sword? I mean, he looked like he really liked it. Wouldn't he want it at his side in death?"

"Yes, he would." Kakashi took the opportunity to cast a glance back, ascertaining his charges weren't too tired. Soon after they had left the bridge, the team had started travelling at ninja speed through the forest. While the Genins' stamina had vastly improved over the last week, Kakashi was worried he may have set too brisk a pace while lost in thought. However, his fears seemed unfounded, as even Sakura was able to match his strides.

"He would definitely prefer it to be at his sides than with Leaf ninjas," resumed Kakashi. "However, if we left it there, someone would be bound to loot it before long. That, he would probably like even less than us taking it."

"Makes sense, I guess."

Companionable silence reigned for the rest of the trek back to Konoha. When they saw the giant gates looming ahead, the squad slowed down to a more sedate pace, not wanting to alert the guards stationed there. As soon as they were identified and allowed inside Konoha, all four ninjas immediately headed towards the Hokage Tower for a debriefing.

* * *

The Hokage was less than pleased with the complications that arose –he should have foreseen the possibility of such hurdles as soon as he saw Tazuna twitching under his gaze, ostensibly withholding information relevant to the mission parameters. Indeed, both he and Kakashi had surmised the possibility of enemy ninja attacking Tazuna, yet neither had considered the possibility of an A-rank missing-nin of Zabuza' caliber being hired so easily. However, the Sandaime refrained from showing his displeasure overmuch, as the performance of the Genins had been exemplary, Naruto's dogged determination to complete the mission for a noble cause being a case in point.

"Good job, Team Seven. You did very well on a difficult mission." The Hokage paused to allow for Naruto's cries of 'Yatta!' "This mission has officially been elevated to A-rank and you will be remunerated accordingly. You may go collect your payment. Kakashi, if I may have a word?"

"We'll meet in half an hour, Team Seven," added Kakashi before his students could stampede all the way across the room.

The Jonin waited until his charges had picked up their mission tabs and filed out of the office before turning back to the Hokage. "Hokage-sama?"

And thus, the Hokage learned of more sensitive matters. He was told of Naruto's contribution to the _Repputoppa_, of the blond's teammates' reactions when they first learned that Naruto was a _jinchuuriki_, and of the distressing emergence of the Kyuubi's youki during the fight. The two ninjas also discussed the fate of the _Kubikiri Houchou_, concluding that while it would perhaps rankle Zabuza's spirit, they should return the fabled sword to the _Mizukage._ They would of course study its design and construction before relinquishing the weapon back to the village. With the new Mizukage in place, perhaps relations would thaw over time. It could only help to speed the process along with judicious show of goodwill.

His report given, Kakashi left to join his Genins after an obligatory detour to his room for a much-delayed dose of his precious.

* * *

The three Genins were quickly losing their grip on patience. Naruto had had enough of reading about _taijutsu_: if there were no instructions to learn the styles, what good was it to know how the Iron Fist style was focused on offense or of the defensive properties of the Hyuuga's famed _Jyuuken_ style? Of course, the importance of stances was reinforced with possible drills to help further cement the movements into muscle memory but even Naruto was rather leery of some of those suggestions –no one could fault him for equivocating to practice his forms under water while holding himself to the surface from underneath using his hands, especially if he was to wear weights during the entire ordeal. Not only were the benefits of this exercise rather dubious, but it was also time-consuming and altogether uncomfortable. All in all, Naruto decided to skip the book as it seemed rather useless when it came to practical matters.

Sakura had busied herself with improvised chakra control exercises. Who knew rotating two leaves above her palm could be so strenuous? Within fifteen minutes, she had depleted enough of her reserves that she hadn't dared continue, as none of the assembled Genins could guess what Kakashi wanted. If he ordered them to perform chakra-consuming activities, Sakura would fail badly in front of her Uchiha. That would most certainly not do, not after all the training they'd done in Wave! And thus, Sakura settled herself for a long wait.

Sasuke, on the other hand, did not bother with an attempt to improve himself. His training methods were reserved for Uchiha only and nothing he could concoct could possibly be superior to the Uchiha methods. Of course, Sasuke had to grudgingly accept that his sensei did perhaps know enough to give useful drills, but then again, the Uchiha probably hadn't bothered cataloguing those exercises as any ninja would have to go through them.

It was then that Kakashi appeared out of thin air with his customary salutation.

"Yo."

"You're LATE!" shouted Naruto and Sakura in perfect unison while Sasuke simply grunted.

"Why, yes I am. By a full hour. Isn't that nice? I was pursued by a determined green blob, but I managed to evade it with my awesome ninja skills!" By then, the Genins were used to his outlandish excuses and therefore none of them reacted to this latest story, though for once Kakashi had recounted the truth. "But enough of that. You've improved greatly over the course of the mission to Wave and I've decided that perhaps I was too lax with your training before. I'll make sure that next time, you'll be well-equipped from the very start of the mission. Every morning, I'll expect you to do twenty laps around Konoha: ten while sticking to the walls with your feet and ten by sticking with your hands. You'll have to start wearing fifty-pound weights while training. For now, I want you to do five laps around Konoha while sticking yourselves to the walls using your hands without weights. I'll be waiting here for you to finish your exercises."

* * *

Inside ROOT's headquarters, Danzou interviewed the agents he had sent to Otogakure nearly a month ago to acquire intelligence regarding the new Hidden Village, most of it centered around the military strength. This was crucial to his decision-making: unless he could safely discount the invasion, he would be forced to share his ill-acquired information with the Hokage for the sake of Konoha, thereby undermining his own position by confirming the persisted existence of ROOT. While every ninja of any significance would know of his specialized forces, Danzou was careful to leave no proof short of the very underground complex housing ROOT. When dealing with one such of the Sandaime, revealing the plans for the Suna-Oto invasion would be tantamount to announcing the strength of his own forces. Hopefully, the data would allow him to avoid such a scenario.

"Danzou-sama, ROOT espionage squad #5 reporting." ROOT individuals were nameless and as faceless as feasible, yet the groups they belonged to were given codenames.

"How many cursed-seal bearers does Orochimaru have?"

"The security measures were too systematic to gather an exact number. Our estimates indicate at least twenty, all able to activate the second level, and an additional thirty without the second-stage transformation."

Though Danzou appeared as impassive as ever, the figure was quite troubling indeed: less than one in ten subjects survived the sealing process, which meant that Orochimaru believed the power of the second transformation was worth wasting upwards of two hundred ninjas to gain twenty high-level soldiers. Then again, perhaps the personnel were not wasted: contrary to the blubbering idiot currently in command of Konoha, Orochimaru was willing to sacrifice young civilians to his cause. Upon further consideration, Danzou concluded, this was the most probably scenario: he could gain forces where most villages would only see civilians, gain strength from liabilities.

"What of their main forces?"

"We were able to detect at least fifty Jonin-level regular ninjas and twice as many were of Chunin-level proficiency."

The only indication of Danzou's emotional turbulence was the slight hic in his breath –much below the detection skills of most ninjas, but as clear as a flare to his ROOT operatives. However, well-trained as they were, the kneeling ninjas did not react, merely waiting for further instructions from their leader.

"Are you quite certain that Orochimaru gathered at least fifty Jonins?"

"Affirmative."

"What are the upper estimates?"

"We believe there are no more than one hundred seal-bearers, one hundred Jonins and three hundred Chunins."

"To what is due the large variation?"

"We spent a month scouting the different ninja-holding areas hidden by Orochimaru. In addition to the main base, there were two other facilities that we located. However, there was word of yet another holding area, a much larger one. Though we have not found conclusive evidence of its existence, it was rumored to hold over half of Oto's forces. In addition, we accounted for the possibility of more Chunins scouting the border than we had encountered."

"I see. If it is the unseen base is as large as you described, why haven't you found it?"

If it were any other ninja, the belligerent phrasing would be sufficient to induce sweating. These were ROOT operatives however, personally trained by Danzou-sama to his satisfaction, and they simply answered his question without reacting to either tone or choice of words. "It was rumored to be a mobile underground fortress. While we tracked down one of its previous locations, the trail was too weak to follow within the time frame of the operation. We felt that the information we collected was sufficient for to satisfy the outlines stated."

Having guessed a similar situation, Danzou nodded before asking: "How were you able to identify the previous location of the base?"

"Following the clues, we have found signs of a heterogeneous clump of earth within a field of otherwise homogeneous geology. In addition, there were signs of travel between the purported location and the surface, as well as a large body of chakra floating about. Since the disturbed patch was of the estimated size, we deduced the likeliest explanation would be a mobile underground fortress. However, we were unable to ascertain the number of targets without entering the base itself."

"Very well. You are dismissed."

While his subordinates went back to their barracks, Danzou lingered afterwards, weighing the numbers against each other across various scenarios. The large uncertainty certainly put a wrench in his plans.

* * *

Light wafted through cracks in the sewer system, scattering off of motes of dust and clouds of fog before settling on a kneeling figure, cloak generously spread over all visible parts. "Orochimaru-sama."

A voice answered deep within the darkness, far too shrouded in shadows to be seen. "Your report, Soujiro?"

"Ibiki will be the proctor of the first test. It will be held in the Academy stadium."

"Ah, a written test, then."

"All sources point to one, though I was unable to confirm directly. If you wish so, I may devote more time to it."

"No, no, it doesn't matter. Continue on. What of the next test?"

"The reports indicate that your old apprentice, Mitarashi Anko, will be overseeing it. Though I am unclear as to the exact parameters, it will entail collecting two scrolls inside the Forest of Death."

"The Heaven and Earth scrolls again?" From the lilting tone, one could assume Orochimaru was amused.

"So indicate my sources."

"Kukuku! Such a test seems rather meek for my ex-student, doesn't it? Now I guess the next test will be the final round."

"Indeed it is, though there will an optional preliminary stage if there are too many who pass the first two stages."

"That may be a smart move yet; the finals had always been too disorganized in the past due to the varying number of participants. Have you anything else to report?"

"No, Orochimaru-sama."

"Very well, then. You will go to the main intersection of sewers in Konoha in twelve hours to contact my main agent within Konoha and you will hand him this scroll." A pale hand parted the veil of shadows to present the document in question. As soon as it was retrieved, the hand slithered back into obscurity. "You will report any other observations you've made to the contact and wait for his instructions after you hand him the document. You may now leave."

A fanatical smile graced the cloaked ninja's face even as he terminated the communication jutsu. Surely this would bode well for his career in Oto: as of yet, no one even amongst the Konoha spies knew the identity of the mysterious double-agent. To be charged with the important task of serving as liaison was quite unusual, as Orochimaru had kept his agents separate from each other. Surely, he concluded, the information he just supplied must have a high value if Orochimaru trusted him enough to meet this spymaster face to face.

* * *

The next morning found Kakashi's Genins once again making their rounds around Konoha's massive walls, though this time they completed their laps while keeping their entire bodies parallel to the floor, sticking to the walls with their hands. Despite Kakashi's reluctance to provide them with jutsus ever since the formation of the team, their mastery of the few skills at their disposal grew greatly enough that they were likely to use it even during emergencies. This in Kakashi's estimation was much more important than mere knowledge of a mind-boggling number of jutsus. After all, a jutsu was only as useful as the wielder could make it, and not at all if it never came to mind at the right time.

Currently, though, Kakashi was for once at the designated training grounds well in advance of the appointed meeting time. He was slowly dissecting the situation to decide a dilemma: should he allow his team to enter the Chunin exams? It was obvious to Kakashi that none of his students had the right aptitude to survive as Chunins, being unable as they were to handle the responsibilities in their current states, to view assets and weaknesses coldly and apply this knowledge to the proper path. However, the experience his team could gain from the exams would be invaluable. The stressful conditions were likely to reinforce the need for flawless teamwork and cement their relationship even further. On the other hand, he would be taking the risk of jading their views on life prematurely if they weren't ready, as well as taking a gamble with their lives.

Arguing with himself over and over again, Kakashi finally delayed his decision-making for another time. He would pronounce his judgment of his team after he'd seen their progress over the next few days. Even though few would believe it, Kakashi really did take his students' welfare seriously and was willing to haul them along for another six months of mostly D-rank missions. This was indeed quite the sacrifice, for even the Icha-Icha series could get boring when read too many times!

* * *

Beneath Konoha's sleeping populace, two figures crept inside the ancient sewer system erected by the Shodaime Hokage himself. Soon enough each saw the other person lurking within the shadows, clinging close to the walls despite the moisture inherent in these conditions. After a moment of silence, Soujiro decided to initiate the contact.

"Out of the woods does the Serpent thrive." This was the standard passphrase used by low-level spies, ones that Orochimaru considered easily expendable.

"And in the darkness, bind the nations in its coils." As expected from Soujiro's meeting with the Snake Sannin, the mysterious figure meeting with the spy held a high station within Orochimaru's networks: the answering code indicated one privy to sensitive information and high-level plans. "I believe you were sent by Orochimaru?"

"Yes. I was told to deliver this scroll to you and to wait for your response."

"As Orochimaru-sama wishes," replied Soujiro's interlocutor, stepping out of the darkness to grasp the document. Even with the grey hair and the glasses, the spymaster appeared surprisingly young, noted Soujiro. There was also an air of innocence about him that made Soujiro doubt whether he really could be a spymaster under one as ruthless as Orochimaru-sama.

A low cough broke Soujiro out of his musings. "Do you have anything else to report?"

"No."

The man –teen, really– wagged a finger back and forth while tsk-ing reproachfully, as if addressing a pet dog who chewed on the sofa. "Look underneath the underneath, or look past the horizon, or investigate the shadows under a smokecreen, wasn't that one of the most elementary lessons for a shinobi? Now that you're serving Orochimaru-sama, you're expected to at least know those basic tenets like the back of your hands. Orochimaru-sama felt that you were slacking off in your duties, but he wanted to make sure." At this statement, blood drained from Soujiro's face all at once. His tormentor wasn't quite done just yet, however.

"After all, ensuring you'd be chosen as a clerk was rather expensive. However, it seems Orochimaru-sama was once again correct, Kami praise his skills. You are useless, a waste of space, and Orochimaru-sama does not like keeping useless trinkets around, no matter how expensive they may be." At this point, the teen's face morphed from that of an innocent Genin to a sadistic sneer worthy of Orochimaru himself.

"Now, now, now, don't be so shocked; it's quite unbecoming of you. Do you have any last words?" Before Soujiro could answer, a kunai had severed his neck. "Too bad, then."

* * *

"You're LATE!"

Once again, the unison of the Genins put Kakashi on edge, though he showed no sign of his emotions. Instead, he smiled cheerfully as he answered them. "Well, you see, there was this old lady who needed to walk her black cat, but..."

"LIAR!"

Kakashi was secretly amused. His Genins now more often then not failed to respond to his extravagant excuses, and therefore he cherished the few occasions where he truly riled them even more. "Why, to put forth such an accusation, one must have irrefutable proof!" When he was met with blank stares, Kakashi mock-glared at his Genins. "Ah! I see you are cowed by the responsibility of finding such evidence! That's more fitting for ninjas such as yourselves. For today's training, I have the perfect exercise for the three of you. Naruto will create two _Kage_ _Bunshins_ who will stand over there." Kakashi took a moment to point to the trees just beyond the post where Naruto had been tied after their first attempt at the Genin test. "Naruto's clones will hide themselves and throw kunais at the three of you. Sakura, and Sakura alone, will react by casting a _genjutsu_ while protecting all three of you. Naruto's clones will then dispel the _genjutsu_ and throw his _Repputoppa_ at you. This is where Naruto and Sasuke will come in: you will cancel the attack with a combination of _Katon_ and _Fuuton_ jutsus. Are there any questions?"

* * *

Two cloaked figures once again disturbed the mephitic ventilation in Konoha's sewer system.

"Orochimaru-sama."

"Kabuto-kun. I take it Soujiro did not improve his performance?"

"Indeed. He believed the meeting was a boon that you granted him."

"Kukuku! How the delusions of the weak never cease to amuse me! A boon, you said?"

"His swagger was clearly visible."

"Swaggering to his death! How delightful!"

"I believe I may have even more delightful news."

"Oh? Do pray tell."

"Ibiki is to host a written exam. The determining factor will be resolve."

"Ah! That is rather refreshing news: a proctor who invents a new test."

"His ingenuity does not stop there: instead of probing academic ability, he will test information-gathering by asking questions Chunin-hopefuls have no chance of answering."

"Rather unusual, I admit. In that case, I suspect there will be multiple Chunin guards deployed about the exam room?"

"That is correct. I have taken the liberty of flagging some of our weaker agents for deployment."

"Kukuku! You presume much, Kabuto-kun." Though Kabuto had shown himself to be competent and loyal enough to be trusted with coordinating the spies and agents within Konoha, this action was rather beyond the Genin's responsibilities. Therefore, Orochimaru paused to let Kabuto squirm ever-so-slightly before he continued, "But I agree: sending weaker agents as soon as possible was the correct course of action -even if you bypassed my approval in the process."

"Thank you for your approval, Orochimaru-sama."

"That's the attitude! Now, what of the second test?"

"Mitarashi Anko intends to let the Genins loose in the Forest of Death. I believe that would be the best place to corner the subject, as it will be mostly unsupervised."

"Mostly?"

"I have recorded the detailed schedule of the camera sweeps. It seems they were optimized for timely removal of cadavers rather than for providing feedback on the Genins' performance during the test."

"Excellent!"

"I have a list of the more promising Genins from all the Hidden Villages who have participated in the past. If you wish, it is a simple matter to filter them according to body type."

"You seem rather enterprising for a mere subordinate of mine."

"I simply do my best to please my lord, be it by fulfilling requests or anticipating future requests."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, staring at Kabuto to divine the Genin's intentions with but a look. Kabuto had been taking more and more liberties and while each of those transgressions had been to Orochimaru's advantage, he feared his subordinate might be growing out of control. After a while, though, the Snake Sannin was apparently satisfied, a smile distorting his pale face. "And anticipate them correctly you have. Make sure you don't make a mistake while taking liberties."

"I will be careful, Orochimaru-sama."

"Good, good. Have you managed to get the ANBU schedules yet?"

"I'm afraid I have thus far only managed to get the ordinary ANBU patrol schedule from external observation. As you indicated, the security of their headquarters is quite tight indeed, especially after Naruto managed to infiltrate the place for a prank."

"Naruto infiltrated ANBU headquarters? It seems he might be quite a talented brat."

"His stealth is above par, though he doesn't seem to have much in terms of general ninja aptitude."

"Oh?"

"His education seems to have been stilted at the Academy. His team only recently returned from a C-rank mission looking rather battered."

"Ah, Konoha's loss, then. It would have been interesting to study a _jinchuuriki_. As it is, we'll have to settle with destroying Konoha with another _jinchuuriki_ instead. Make sure you have the plans for our next meeting."

"As you wish, Orochimaru-sama."

* * *

The training had gone much more smoothly than Kakashi had dared hope. One of the advantages of having Naruto perform the attacks was the extra training the clone would perform for the blond without seeming to favor any of the Genins. Of Kakashi's three charges, he was the one least able to focus his chakra into the various jutsus performed and therefore the most easily read opponent. As such, he would benefit more from performing this drill than if Kakashi were to provide the ambush. All in all, the Jonin was rather proud of this latest stroke of genius: due to Naruto's deeply ingrained stealth tactics, the Genins would be forced to identify his position by the chakra flare preceding the incoming projectiles and react quickly, which they were about to do.

To Kakashi's surprise, Naruto's clone had improved enough during the short Icha-Icha break to now waste much less chakra than most Genins would be expected to. As his squad was trained alongside the clones, however, their chakra detection had improved enough to be able to detect even this reduced signal without any problem and Sakura offhandedly cast a _genjutsu_ even as she sent out three kunais to intercept the clone's attacks. Indeed, her _genjutsu_ abilities seemed to have improved drastically, as she was now proficient enough to use it even during one-on-one combat situations and without seals, though the illusions served more as a distraction for standard Academy techniques rather than as an offensive weapon on its own. Naruto had also improved on the _Repputoppa_: Kakashi could now map with his Sharingan the irregular and fast-changing curves of the surge of wind where previously it arched in a smooth curve. In addition, Kakashi had noted some nature manipulation seeping in even without a second clone to provide a grinding block to jump-start the process.

Sasuke had also taken the occasion to train his Sharingan: he could now activate it on a whim and deactivate it almost instantaneously after usage to conserve chakra usage. This was necessary: even though the strain of maintaining the _doujutsu_ was negligible over short periods of time, the effects of activating the bloodline as well as shooting chakra-intensive _Katon_ jutsus over an hour would be quite significant on his current reserves. Thus, Kakashi was glad to note that Sasuke was properly managing his chakra usage to expend only the bare minimum required. Perhaps some members of his team could possibly be promoted to Chunin after all. That is, if Kakashi decided to nominate his team to the Chunin Exams at all.

* * *

"ROOT espionage squad #5, report."

"Danzou-sama. We have received reports of Orochimaru entering Konoha and have verified the claims. Orochimaru has indeed infiltrated Konoha and was physically present in sector H of the sewer systems twice within the last week."

"What was the reason for his visit?"

"He left no clues as to the nature of the meeting."

"How confident are you in detecting his presence should he ever reappear anywhere within Konoha?"

"While we can make no guarantee for the entire area of Konoha, we are able to secure the sewer systems."

Danzou nearly grimaced. "Is the Hokage aware of this intrusion?"

"Negative, Danzou-sama."

"Make sure it stays that way. For now, your job will be to monitor the sewer systems -security under the old fool is much too lax! You will take infiltration team #2 with you to assist you in your task. Dismissed."

* * *

Kakashi was torn between his conflicting emotions. The unity of his team was quite impressive: a chorus of perfectly-staggered shouts of "Kai!" greeted his ears. Unfortunately, his pride at seeing such teamwork was undermined by the ill-disguised insult: even his own Genin team refused to believe that Kakashi could possibly arrive on time even once for a practice session. It was in moments such as these that Kakashi noticed how perfect his mask was. If only Gai were here, he would lament the unyouthfulness of the whole scenario! ...Or perhaps Gai's absence might be better for everyone involved after all, mused Kakashi.

With a sigh, Kakashi returned his attention to his still incredulous students. "If you have to know, I'm here because I thought it was evening already when I came out." All three Genins paused in mid-"Kai" as they stared at Kakashi. Glad to have gained their attention, the Jonin continued: "Today, you will try to keep one bell (the golden one in my hand) from me as well as destroy the paper I have in my other hand. To keep things simple, I'll keep the paper in clear view on my back. Any questions?"

Naruto surprised everyone by asking the first question. "Sensei, is everything allowed?"

"Ah yes, good question! Naruto, you are forbidden from using your _Oiroke no Jutsu_ and all of its variants. Sasuke, you may not change the status of your Sharingan -either keep it active or inactive from the very start, but don't activate or deactivate it once we begin the exercise. Any other questions?"

This time, it was Sasuke who spoke. "Is there a time limit?"

"If you manage to keep your bell until noon, I will pause the exercise for a lunch break. If it's still in your possession by supper, I'll consider it your victory. Anything else to ask?" When his Genins stayed silent, Kakashi finally intoned: "Begin!"

* * *

"Orochimaru-sama."

Kabuto knelt once more a few paces from his lord, a heavy cloak completely covering his figure. Quite unlike the previous meeting held in the sewer system for security reasons, however, Orochimaru was now standing in the open, his silhouette atop a tree clearly delineated against the night sky while his servant resided in an adjacent tree, balancing himselfwith one knee on a branch.

"Kabuto-kun. I trust you have the schedule already?"

"I do. I have also outlined a possible plan to have a few of them replaced, as well as devised a method to replace the Hokage's personal ANBU with your own elite guards."

"How thoughful of you!" Unlike during the previous meeting, this latest show of initiative was well warranted. "Now, there's the matter of making sure that the _jinchuuriki_ passes the first test. Do you expect any difficulties in that regard?"

"No, I don't. The entire team seems quite competent enough to pass that test even without external help."

"Very well. If we were to use your plans, how many ninjas do you need to replace the ANBU patrols?"

"Ideally, five seal-bearers, five Jonins and ten Chunins, though the plan would still work with only five Jonins."

"Very well. I will see what I can supply for our next meeting. Is there anything else you wish to report?"

"Yes. It seems that Kakashi's team had just completed an A-rank mission and not the C-rank I was led to believe.

"Oh?"

"As it turns out, it seems that their client lied to them."

"Ah, I see! Anything else?"

"I believe the sewer meeting grounds are compromised."

"That's too bad. But no matter. It was only ever a question of time, after all. In that case, let's meet in cave #6 tomorrow."

* * *

Kakashi sighed as he finally flopped down onto his bed. His Genins had improved quite significantly since their induction in Konoha's ninja corps. Contrary to what he'd believed yesterday, Naruto and Sasuke were exceptionally accurate with the combination attacks, whether aiming for a static target or a moving one. Sakura was solid in her ability to cast _genjutsu_, though she did not exhibit any appreciable improvement since yesterday. Yet even she had a new twist for Kakashi: the very first illusion was one of extremely beautiful (and extremely naked!) ladies explicitly constructed for Kakashi. Luckily, this much he had anticipated and prepared for, much to the chagrin of the Genins. Her second attempt at erotic distractions, on the other hand, nearly made him forget about the impending collision with Naruto's trap (and just when did Naruto dispatch clones to do his dirty work?). Indeed, he was so immersed in savoring the ladies tintillating him with hints of luscious flesh peeking through wafts of smoke that when he finally dispelled the construct with a "Kai!" and twisted out of the way of the log barely half a second into the _genjutsu_, he fell right into the second layer of the illusion. Only Obito's gift saved him from the hurtling ball of flame conveniently located behind a beautiful lady blowing him a kiss while bending just enough to show her cleavage.

It was then that Kakashi decided to nominate his team. The trap had all the hallmarks of a successful Chunin team: multiple snares taking care of all reasonable possibilities, pooling of knowledge from all members, perfect execution and, most of all, plenty of flair yet still somehow effective. Indeed, he could identify Naruto's contribution in the form of the modified _Oiroke no Jutsu_ Sakura had cast -one that required precise knowledge of how making less seem more-, Sasuke's impeccable calculation of the various trajectories to make everything converge together and Sakura's sheer chakra control that made the central element of the trap, that elaborate dual-layered _genjutsu_, a possibility. The fact that it took them the lunch break to devise the strategy had initially made Kakashi pause, but he concluded that it was irrelevant as they had still managed to get the drop on an experienced and forewarned Jonin.

* * *

At the Hokage's request, all of the Jonin senseis had gathered in the basement of the Hokage Tower for nominations to the Chunin exams, which Konoha would be hosting this time. Even after he concluded that they could survive as Chunins, Kakashi was still ambivalent about nominating his team, as they lacked the number of difficult missions most teams would have. Thus, even if they could perform as well as (or even better than, Kakahi's ego helpfully supplied) most Chunin cells in defeating him, their opponents would still enjoy the advantage of experience. Nevertheless, Kakashi acknowledged their laudable performance on their A-rank mission and decided to give them the opportunity to prove themselves. Whether they took it or not would be entirely up to them.

Though the decision may have been a reasonable one from his point of view, silence oppressive and intimidating still swept through the ranks of the assembled ninjas when he announced his nomination. Kakashi sighed –this much was expected: the last rookie team to be nominated for the Chunin Exams had been Jiraiya's team. The Hokage was forced to conclude that the Kakashi-induced madness certainly must be contagious when both the other fresh rookie Genins as well as Maito Gai's older team were all put forward: this was unprecedented in the entire history of the Chunin exams, even in their primitive forms before the treaties sealing the end of the Third Great Shinobi Secret Wars!

The Sandaime sighed, weariness apparent when he further strayed from the tradition by instituting an emergency interview with each Jonin sensei before deciding to request Iruka to test the rookie teams prior to accepting the nominations. The Academy instructor was to subject the Genins to stressful situations similar to those encountered during the exam and to record their performance.

* * *

"Kabuto-kun," rang a voice from the walls of the cave itself, making the recipient jump in surprise, "I will be able to provide you with five Jonins and three seal-bearers to work with, as well as an additional Jonin to provide support from within the participating examinees. Will that be sufficient?"

"Orochimaru-sama," answered the Genin calmly, having regained his composure quickly, "that will be well in excess of the minimum requirements. Thank you for your help."

"Good, good. On another note, have you had another look at Sasuke-kun's progression?"

"It seems that Kakashi has been training them seriously since their return. Unfortunately, I have been unable to approach them for a direct evaluation of their progress."

"Hmm. How certain are you of success in replacing the ANBU if you can't even get the drop on a single ex-ANBU?"

"I am reasonably certain of success. I have been disturbed by my inability to approach Kakashi and have verified my competence by repeatedly injecting the specific ANBU targets with a small dose of relaxant without any trouble. I have also approached as many others as possible, with my only failure being Tenzou."

"Ah, Tenzou-kun. That reminds me of so many memories from the good ol' days in Konoha. But no matter, if he is the only ANBU you can't get the drop on, you could always improvise if he should be in the vicinity."

"He is scheduled to be patrolling just outside the arena, whereas my targets will be in the hospital. I do not expect there to be a problem, though I am careful about mapping other possible exchange points."

"Kukuku! Such a dedicated minion! Very well, then. Contact me when all preparations are ready."

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama."

Kabuto stayed kneeled for a while longer even when the walls stayed silent. The Snake Sannin was quite skilled indeed if the bespectacled ninjaa couldn't sense any trace of Orochimaru throughout the entire meeting.

* * *

The results came back overwhelmingly positive a mere day later. Even reticent and overprotective Iruka had to admit their ability to partake in the upcoming Chunin Exams. It seemed four months in the field had done wonders for the rookie Genins. Sakura could now function even when confronted with proof of injuries to "her precious Uchiha", Hinata could face down opponents without shaking in her sandals, Shikamaru at least considered engaging his enemy rather than simply giving up in favor of watching clouds, and Naruto… Naruto had improved to the point that Iruka could barely recognize his former student.

Even though Iruka still felt that an extra six months of Geninship could only be beneficial, he at least no longer wrung his hands at the very thought of the Chunin Exams. When he reported as much to the Hokage before the assembled Jonin instructors, the Sandaime took one long look at the Academy instructor before stamping his seal on the first nomination form with a sigh. It seemed the Genins would be due for a rough introduction to the brutal world of international politics after all.

* * *

Kakashi found his team occupying themselves while waiting for him once again. Naruto was busying himself with yet another book, Sakura amused herself with an unusual chakra control exercise (a rather interesting idea, noted Kakashi: holding a leaf on top of the palm and repeatedly stabbing the leaf with a kunai without touching either the leaf or the weapon) while Sasuke posed through the stances of the signature _Taka _kata of the Uchiha, the namesake of their entire _taijutsu_ style. The sight made even Kakashi pause momentarily before retrieving his precious, as the Uchiha were even worse than the Hyuuga when it came to sharing their original contributions to taijutsu. Then again, the silver-haired Jonin reflected, perhaps this wasn't so surprising after all, as the stances were the same as those taught in the Academy. Rather, it was the twirling transitions of the kata that were a prized secret passed on solely from clan member to clan member –until Kakashi inadvertently copied it, that is. Nevertheless, the Jonin was quite happy: a great deal of trust was necessary for Sasuke to show even the sequence of stances in front of his teammates.

Deciding that his Genins had waited long enough, Kakashi tunneled to the top of a bridge with an absent-minded Shunshin. "Yo! What brings my cute students here so early today?" Kakashi had to bite back a bark of laughter as he took in the indignant frowns crossing all three of his students' faces. He would certainly have to recycle this comment in the future, if it could offend even the aloof Uchiha.

"You're LATE!"

And indeed he was. However, he had good cause today: he had been attending a meeting with the Hokage from 5:00AM up until barely ten minutes ago. Of course, he couldn't let his Genins know he was breaking tradition. Therefore, he settled with his usual angelic smile and all-too-innocent tone. "I was, was I? You see, I was disturbed early this morning and I just had to go see whatever disturbance it was, when…"

"LIAR!"

As expected, none of his students believed him. Kakashi feinted a few sobs and conjured a _genjutsu_ tear into existence before reassuming his composure and addressing his students. "Well, I've got an announcement." Curiously enough, none of his students seemed particularly enthralled. "I think you three are ready for the Chunin exams. Here are the nomination forms." After handing out the appropriate documents, Kakashi resumed: "Whether or not you participate is your own decision. If you do want to participate, you'll have to hand me the completed nomination form in front of room 301 at the Academy on Thursday. I'll be away for the next few days, so we won't meet until then. Just a word of warning: this exam is not easy. Many have lost their lives in the past and many more will die for the honor of participating in the Chunin exams. This is not a decision you should take lightly. If you're unsure why you're even a ninja in the first place, if you have even the slightest doubt as to your motivation, don't bother with the nomination form. That said, I have faith that each of you are competent enough shinobi. Whether you really are or not is up to you. Any questions?"

"Ne, Kakashi, what are we supposed to do in the meanwhile?"

"Ah, I'd forgotten about that. Glad you asked." Kakashi retrieved two scrolls from his vest as the Genins recovered from their collective loss of consciousness -this was extreme even by Kakashi's standards! "Here you go. The black one is for Sasuke and the pink one is for Sakura."

"What about Naruto?" Surprisingly, it was Sakura and not Naruto who asked the obvious question.

"Eh! I had something different in mind for Naruto. If there's no other questions from you two, you may go."

Sasuke scowled. "Why does Naruto get special treatment?"

Kakashi looked at his charges. Sakura seemed to agree with Sasuke even as she stayed silent, while Naruto frowned in puzzlement. "Naruto gets _'special treatment'_ because I intend to give him a theoretical talk regarding the _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ that is of no consequence to you -unless you want to be stuck here with a discussion on advanced chakra theory that is of absolutely no practical use to either of you? You are free to stay if Naruto feels comfortable with it." Seeing Sasuke lighten his mood even as Naruto flopped down to the ground in despair (and a half-muttered "More lessons?"), Kakashi waved them off.

Once they complied and disappeared, Kakashi turned back to Naruto. "Maa, maa, don't be so glum! What I'm about to tell you actually relates to a B-ranked secret concerning the _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_. Interested yet?" As expected, Naruto perked up rather visibly and immediately. While Kakashi knew his phrasing was misleading, it was possibly the fastest way to make Naruto sit through the necessary theoretical discussion prior to unveiling the practical implications.

Taking a deep breath, Kakashi launched into complex chakra theory normally reserved for Jonins or exceptionally gifted Chunins. "It is commonly said that there are two forms of memory: one from the nervous system and one from the immune system." Pointedly ignoring Naruto's bafflement, Kakashi ploughed through the explanation. "It doesn't really matter to our discussion, though, except to maybe make it easier to understand. My point is that there is actually a third system capable of memory that most people aren't aware of: the chakra system. What do you know about the chakra system?"

"Uh, it's composed of these tenketsus connected to each other by chakra pathways. Chakra is collected and stored in chakra coils, and rest in these tenketsus when traveling through the body, similarly to how there are bus stops along the path of a bus route, and can come out of the body from these tenketsus. And, uh, there's also how handseals mold chakra by changing the shape and size of tenketsus to form different sorts of chakra, and how some tenketsus have different properties and how some handseals also mix chakra from these special tenketsus but the text wasn't too clear on that and Ebisu told me not to worry about it. I think that's about it."

Kakashi let his breath slowly drain away. It seemed Ebisu had worked miracles with Naruto's general shinobi education, as that explanation was more thorough than the standard Academy fare yet general enough to avoid all of the controversial theories floating about in the learned circles. "And Ebisu was right. Unless you want to delve into esoteric fields of ninja academia, that's quite enough for me to work with. To start with, your tenketsus 'remember' the way they mold chakra. There's a theory that claims... Actually, it's not relevant and it's a long theory." Kakashi added as an afterthought: "Do you want to hear it?"

Seeing Naruto shake his head, Kakashi congratulated himself from avoiding the mire of yet-unsolved historical arguments -ones relating tenketsu plasticity to memory as opposed to tenketsu strength versus elasticity, and even some recent controversial developments from Kiri suggesting the involvement of chakra coils in the phenomenon- before furthering his original train of thought. "Alright. So your tenketsus 'remember' the different kinds of chakra they mold, so that you could even perform your favorite jutsus without any seals if you performed them enough. It's also why you can form handseals faster with enough practice. Makes sense so far?"

Kakashi waited for Naruto's confirmation before introducing the crux of the theory. "So I've told you that your tenketsus have memory. That is pretty easy to understand and accept. What is more difficult is the concept of chakra memory. Not only do your tenketsus have memory, but your chakra itself has memory."

Kakashi closed his eyes and leaned back, waiting for Naruto to prepare the inevitable barrage of questions. When it didn't come, Kakashi opened his single eye only to see Naruto's face still scrunched in thought. "Naruto?"

"Huh?"

"What are you thinking?"

"Well, chakra is created by mixing body and mind and once created, it goes to the nearest tenketsu and circulates through the pathways as soon as the tenketsu is filled, right? But that would mean that chakra is like water and if water 'remembers' stuff, it's because there's non-water stuff mixed in with water. So I thought that if chakra itself has memory, it could be non-chakra stuff mixed into chakra itself. But that would be bad because chakra would not be only chakra anymore, so it's got to be something else or else we'd become worse ninjas as we get more experience. But that's not true, so it's gotta be something else.

"Then I remembered how you also said that when the tenketsus change shape and stuff, the chakra inside changes. That'd mean it's sorta like paint in that it has all kinds of different properties, only it's more like a chameleon because it's a single thingy, except that _that_ chakra is used up and doesn't exist anymore, so there's nothing to help remember. So I guessed when you say that chakra itself has memory it means that the chakra that's left somehow remembers, so that would mean that even the chakra that isn't used up is somehow changed, kinda like I change the entire store but only release a bit of it even though it feels like I control how much chakra to use for the jutsu.

"Come to think of it, it could be something in-between, like I choose how much chakra I will use and make that chakra move like I want to and the rest just sorta get part of the deal and if I get to repeat it often enough it will be like it got the full deal. But I don't get how knowing all that stuff could help me! I mean, sure, it's great that my chakra remembers stuff, but how do I use it? I mean, even in the chakra control exercises, I don't get to control my chakra, only how I move it around. So how does this help any? And really, how do we know that both tenketsus and chakra have memory?"

Kakashi was speechless. He could still remember sitting through the entire night pondering the meaning of chakra memory without reaching an intuitive grasp of the concept. Of course, he was confronted with much more intimidating material and had to integrate lexicon such as "selective chakra release" and "differential chakra absorbance" as well as the pseudo-quantitive aspects of chakra activity into his model in order to avoid appearing as a nincompoop -much as Naruto sounded but a few moments ago. Nevertheless, Naruto managed to complete the work of an entire night in but a few minutes!

"Yes, you got the theory down for the most part. But don't worry, I'm coming around to how it'll help you. There are a few things you still need to know, though. The funny thing about tenketsus is that some of them produce a different type of chakra, like there's one at the tip of your fingers that makes fire-element chakra, those inside the mouth that make water-element chakra or those in your lungs that generate wind-based chakra, but there are also some tenketsus that have different properties. There are some that 'read' chakra -composition, nature, volume, viscosity, and so on. They are in your hands and feet and a bit everywhere over the body, but most of them are in your skull. I think that about covers the background. I'll get to the _Kage Bunshin_ later. Do you have questions now?"

"How do I use those chakra readers?"

"Ah, good question! First things first: you already know how to use them."

"Huh?"

"Think about it. You control your tenketsus to make sure you expel the right amount of chakra, right?" Seeing Naruto nod, Kakashi continued, "Your physical and spiritual energies fluctuate constantly in relation to each other, that's something you can't help. But how do you know how much spiritual and physical energies to mix together to get the right composition to climb trees or walk on water if the proportions are constantly changing?"

"Oh. I see."

"Good. Now, that's what we call instinctive chakra reading. If you get more advanced, you'll have to train chakra reading much more extensively. Eventually, you'd be able to 'see' the chakra all around you, if not with the detail a _doujutsu_ like the Byakugan or the Sharingan can do. But we're not interested in that for now. What I think you really wanted to know was how to consciously read your chakra. The main way is meditation, but there's another way that you'll find much more useful. Make a _Kage Bunshin_." Naruto complied, though he kept his puzzled expression. Kakashi turned to the clone. "Can you dispel yourself?"

"Sure thing, sensei!" The clone vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Now, Naruto, pay attention. I'm going to stay here and my clone will appear three feet to your left. I will then disperse it myself." Kakashi performed the actions, deliberately slowing himself so that Naruto could watch carefully. When he had completed, he turned to Naruto. "Can you do the same thing?"

"I don't get it. How's that different from the clone dispersing itself?"

"Let's say you... Ahem. I'll explain later, but try to do it for now."

"Sure." Naruto produced a clone somewhere on his left and concentrated for a while before looking at Kakashi in askance. "How'd you do it?"

"It's simple, really. Try to feel your chakra. First you'll feel the tenketsu, right?" Naruto nodded. "Then, try to extend your feelings to the chakra flowing through the tenketsus." This time, Naruto stayed still for an entire minute before confirming success. "You should feel something that isn't connected to your tenketsus." When Naruto still hadn't responded after a minute, Kakashi gave a hint. "Close your eyes. It should be easier that way."

Naruto closed his eyes and felt his chakra. Gradually, he became aware of an eerie tingling from outside his body, almost as if part of himself were disconnected from his body. It was when he focused his senses on that tingling that he finally understood what to do. With his eyes still closed, he _relaxed_ the control over the external chakra source, control he was unaware he had been exerting all along, and suddenly felt the chakra flooding back into his body. As he was still monitoring his chakra, he was beset with a flood of information: the view from another angle, seeing himself concentrating and hearing Kakashi looking at another body.

"Whoa!"

"I take it you understand now. Chakra itself has memory, and the _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ is proof of that. It's not simply memory of the tenketsus, it's the memory _of the chakra_. Actually, the _Kage Bunshin_ was created mostly to test this hypothesis: none of the other _Bunshin_ jutsus work quite the same way as they require the user to see 'through' the eyes of the clone and direct their actions accordingly. The _Kage Bunshin_, on the other hand, is entirely independent and the Shodaime wanted to confirm whether chakra had memory. After that, it got used as a scouting method, as the original ninja wouldn't need to divide his attention once the jutsu was complete. Questions?"

"So do I have to dispel the clones to get their memories?"

"Not at all! You just didn't know how to get their memories so you never noticed, that's all. Now that you know, you should be able to read your memories whenever they're dispelled. Whereas Sasuke and Sakura got their scrolls, I want you to work on your _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_. That's one heck of a jutsu for a Genin to have, so you should at least learn to use it to its full extent. First, start by controlling where your clones appear and then get them to dispel by themselves. Try to collect their memories until it becomes a reflex, and you are able to acknowledge the information without losing any of your focus. When you can get your clones to appear _exactly_ where you want them, try to make the clones move as soon as they're conjured. Any questions?"

"Ne, Kakashi, I don't think any this stuff was written in the Forbidden Scroll."

"I wouldn't know, as I haven't seen the contents of that Scroll. I'd be surprised if it weren't there, though. Maybe you just didn't realize what it was talking about, eh?"

"I guess that could be it. I was in a rush to learn it, so I may have skipped over it."

"That's quite understandable. You know that most people can't learn that jutsu as quickly as you did, right? So don't feel bad if you skipped over the theoretical discussion." More precisely, doing so was quite an accomplishment. Kakashi was certain no one had ever learned the _Kage Bunshin_ without understanding the theory. Yet he couldn't afford to let Naruto develop a swelled head -such could easily lead to the death of the entire team during the exams. "Anything else?"

"Nah, that was it."

"Well then, I guess I'll see you on Thursday!"

* * *

It was while Naruto was dutifully dragging himself through the prescribed laps around the village that he met his pink-haired teammate.

"Sakura-chan!"

"Hi, Naruto."

The two made their laps in companionable silence for a while before Sakura spoke up. "Naruto, do you think you'll take the exams?"

"You bet I am! I'm gonna make Chunin and I'll be one step closer to being Hokage!"

"But aren't you afraid of dying?"

"Bah! Everyone dies at some point! Plus, I still haven't made it to a Hokage; I won't die just yet. What about you?"

"I'm... not sure. I mean, like at the Wave, all I did was assist you guys. What if I'm not ready?"

"What do you mean, you're not ready? You're really smart! And you're also very good at _genjutsu. _I mean, look at how you could counter the three kunais while casting an illusion without handseals. So how could you not be ready?"

"I don't know; I'm just... not comfortable with the idea."

"You'll do fine I'm sure!"

"I guess so. Thanks for the reassurance!"

And Naruto's little speech really did appease some of her doubts. Coupled with the foxy grin he now sported, Sakura felt some of her reservations pale. The two Genins finished their rounds with renewed confidence before heading off to complete the personal training that Kakashi had set for them.

* * *

Sakura was feeling rather discouraged with her_ genjutsu_ training -she seemed unable to make any progress regardless of the effort she poured in. As it was, she was left sweaty and rather grumpy on top of famished and exhausted. She tried once more to cast the multi-layered _genjutsu_ over the clearing in training ground 7 only for the wind to move a blade grass, disrupting the entire illusion in the process. The grumbling pink-haired Genin decided to end the session right there. At least, she could now cast an area-wide _genjutsu_, provided nothing moved against her construct. The next step would be to strengthen it until it would only succumb to direct dispelling.

Sakura was so intent on untangling her troubles that her nearly bumped into Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun!"

"Hn."

"Do you think I should go to the Chunin Exams?" Whatever confidence she may have gained from her encounter with Naruto earlier that morning had long since dissipated with her numerous failed attempts at the area-wide _genjutsu_.

"Why not?"

And without another word, the Uchiha scion went on his way back to the Uchiha compound, leaving Sakura alone with her thoughts.

Sasuke thought her capable! Well, Sakura amended, in a manner of speaking. Yet off-handed endorsement or not, Sakura was still undecided. On one hand, both of her teammates thought her competent enough to attend the exams. She still had a nagging doubt, though: was she truly ready to face the hurdles of the exam? While she had received Kakashi's approval in the form of a nomination, he had also cautioned against participating recklessly. Sakura deduced that their sensei had nominated _the team_ and not the individuals themselves. As a smart kunoichi, Sakura was aware that she was the weak link in their team. After all, even the dead-last of their class had shown remarkable growth and had long since left her in the dust. As such, it was possible that Kakashi was warning her that she should exercise prudence in making her decision.

Yet she had also contributed in their modified bell-test. In fact, she had performed the most crucial component of their three-pronged assault, the lynchpin around which both the trap and the combination ninjutsu attack revolved. In addition, she had also passed Iruka's test and defeated her erstwhile sensei in the _taijutsu_ exchange following his failed _genjutsu_. Surely that meant her skills were sufficient? Sakura tightened her resolve: she would eat supper and return to her training. If she could manage to not only cast a motion-resistant _genjutsu_ but one where each layer had to be dispelled separately, she would join Naruto and Sasuke in the Chunin Exams.

* * *

"Orochimaru-sama."

"Ah, Kabuto-kun. This took longer than I expected."

"I apologize for the delay, Orochimaru-sama. However, it seems that someone within Konoha is also moving in the shadows. I had to make sure that my preparations would escape both the Hokage's regular forces as well as this unknown movement."

"Oh?"

"Details are scarce since I had to avoid discovery at all costs, but preliminary information points toward some organisation named 'ROOT'."

"Ah, ROOT! I take it you were able to secure the compounds against their scrutiny?"

"Indeed I have. I am now ready to receive the agents."

"What of the _genjutsu_?"

"The chakra battery is assembled and tested against leaks. It simply needs filling."

"Kukuku! Such an efficient little toy you are! Very well, then. I will send you the Jonins. Oh, and Kabuto-kun?"

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama?"

"One of them will bring you some new toys. Only play with them if you have time, but try to improve them as much as possible."

"Thank you for your consideration, Orochimaru-sama!"

"One last thing. Make sure you _don't_ step over the deadline, and make sure you remain undetected."

"As you wish, Orochimaru-sama."

* * *

Sakura had achieved her goals with but a day to spare. Tomorrow, she would meet her teammates with self-confidence: she had earned her place at their sides. While Sakura knew enough to assume she would still be the weakest of the three, she had at least satisfied her own expectations.


	9. Ch8 Chunin Exams, First Test

It was midmorning by the time Naruto and Sasuke met in the training field. The three Genins of Team 7 had bumped into each other while going home from their individual training and had agreed that they would all participate -even hesitant and self-doubting Sakura was willing to test her mettle. Naruto had been elated while Sasuke simply offered a non-committal 'Hn' right before agreeing to meet here. And thus the two males sat on a post while waiting for their pink-haired comrade to make her appearance. They did not have to wait long, as someone humming softly as the caress of a warm summer day could be heard coming closer but a minute later, shortly preceding the movement of a certain kunoichi joining with her teammates.

"Sakura-chan!"

"Sasuke-kun! Naruto. You're both early!"

"Ne, Sakura-chan, you're early as well."

"Hn. Let's go to this room 301 at the Academy."

* * *

A sizable throng flocked around the main entrance of the Academy barred Team 7's route when they arrived. They were however well aware of alternative entrances and chose a conveniently open window to smuggle themselves in. Unfortunately, it seemed that the hustle and bustle inside the school was just as considerable in the hallways as it was in the courtyard. As they approached the stairs, it was obvious that others were also headed in the same direction, if the sheer density of people was any indication. They navigated through the maze of winding pathways leading to the stairs only to notice that the sheer number of Chunin hopefuls clogged the purportedly spacious Academy. Then again, the building was designed with children in mind, not Genins of various age groups and sizes.

Yet as they approached their destination, they were forced to slow down until they started to wonder whether they would arrive on time or if their neglect of the logistical nightmare fitting all the participating Genins constituted would cost them their promotion even before the exams started. Indeed, they found their path completely blocked by the crowd surrounding one door even before they reached the stairs -their destination, it seemed, as it was the label helpfully nailed on top clearly read 301. Yet something seemed off, as restlessness rippled through the assembled Genins. Soon enough, Kakashi's students observed the source of the disturbance: two older Genins apparently bullied the rest into leaving a wide berth around the door.

The Uchiha would not be outdone quite so easily, however. With a subtle signal, he had both of his teammates leaning over as he murmured softly.

"You noticed the _genjutsu_, didn't you?" After seeing both Sakura and Naruto nod, he outlined his plan. "Let's move slowly to the back of the crowd toward the door and look discouraged. Once there, we'll go to the third floor by walking on the walls. If these idiots can't even count the number of floors they've passed, they deserve to fail."

Without waiting for their approval, the Uchiha set his plan into motion. To his credit, Naruto waited until they were outside before asking his question.

"Hey, teme. Why didn't we just use the stairs?"

Surprisingly, Sasuke bothered answering his teammate, even going as far as looking at Naruto in the eyes.

"Because that would let all the Genins know that they're trying to access a closet. I'm not going out of my way wading across those bakas only to help them."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense."

With that, they reached the right floor only to find that the nearby windows were all closed and locked. They separated to attempt other avenues before Naruto finally found a fourth-floor window that was easily picked. Though Sasuke looked disgruntled, they did not waste much time in their foraging and Sakura was rather glad that Naruto's luck held out. They reached room 301 in short order, without the hassle of moving across the miasma of bodies on the lower floors.

The receptionist inside the vestibule to room 301, on the other hand, was cause of a rather nasty shock to the Genins.

"Yo!"

On their left stood Kakashi, well in advance of the assigned time limit and without his orange book at his side.

"Kakashi-sensei, why aren't you late?"

"YOSH! SUCH STOKED FIRES OF YOUTH! KAKASHI, MY ETERNAL RIVAL, I MUST INTRODUCE YOUR STUDENTS TO LEE!"

The Genins were then drawn to the utter horror of the Jonin standing on the opposite side of Kakashi, the calamity to their sight, and all three Genins had to forcefully refrain from gagging from recoil even as their ears ringed from the boisterous declaration. Green spandex covered the ninja's body, with creases adorning and highlighting most unusual (and none too complimentary) portions of his disproportionate anatomy while horribly clashing with orange leg-warmers worn on his calves. Worse by far, however, were the features above his clothing. A bowlcut topped a disshapen blob of flesh, with round eyes sitting underneath the most enormous eyebrows any of the Genins had ever seen, eyebrows quite reminiscent of giant, black, furry -...

"Caterpillars," muttered Naruto, for once robbed of his customary ear-splitting volume. "Caterpillars, caterpillars... He has caterpillars on his face."

It took the intrusion of another Genin team to wake Kakashi's students from their stupor.

"GAI-SENSEI!"

Unfortunately, seeing a mini-Gai standing next to the original item only sent them into a new dimension of insanity.

"LEE!"

Sakura idly noted Naruto's mutters of "Thick eyebrows and caterpillar eyebrows. Thick, caterpillar, thick, caterpillar, thick..."

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE! YOU MUST MEET KAKASHI'S STUDENTS, FOR THEY BURN BRIGHTLY WITH THE FIRES OF YOUTH! THEY HAVE RESISTED KAKASHI'S HIPNESS AND CRITICIZED HIS TARDINESS! KAKASHI, WHO ARE YOUR STUDENTS?"

Three breaths later, Kakashi cocked his head to one side while regarding the Jonin (apparently named Gai-sensei) curiously. "Hm? Did you say something?"

Gai-sensei visibly deflated. "Ah, Kakashi, your hipness frustrates me so! Who are your students?"

"Ah, my cute little students. They're Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto." Before Gai could interject more diatribes about his flames of youth, Kakashi simply ignored him and focused on his Genins. "Ah, so you're all here; good. This is a team test, so you couldn't have entered individually anyways."

"Huh? But you told... Oh, that was a test too, wasn't it?"

"Yes, Naruto, that was a test. Now hand me your forms and take your numbers. Oh, and you may go in."

The Genins obeyed quietly, wordlessly filling into the examination room where they were faced with a veritable swarm of Genins buzzing about the place. It seemed that every Genin of every hidden village was attending it! Over in one corner were adolescents with grey uniforms, their faces covered by water respirators and Rain hitai-ates, while Sand shinobi stood impassively in another corner. In the middle of the room stood three Genins with a hitai-ate inscribed with... was that a musical eighth note?

It was then that a high-pitched squeal distracted Kakashi's students.

"Sasuke-kun! I knew you'd come, even if you're saddled with losers like Naruto and Forehead-Girl! I just knew you'd be strong enough!"

Sasuke, top-ranked Academy student, last Uchiha and Sharingan-wielder, found himself immobilised by a fangirl. It took Sakura's decisive shout ("How _dare_ you touch my Sasuke-kun, Ino-pig!") for the blond to release her prey in order to better confront her insignificant rival.

"Billboard-Forehead! Who are you calling your Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke took the opportunity to skulk away from his crazed fangirls. After all, the safest counter to a fangirl-attack was a rival-fangirl. Unfortunately, the Uchiha simply escaped from the clutches of one to quite literally bump into his next hurdle.

"Uchiha Sasuke! I am Rock Lee! I've heard that you're the top-ranked Genin of your class! I want to fight you to test my flames of youth!"

It was the pint-sized clone of Maito Gai who addressed Sasuke. It seemed that his voice was much more subdued in the absence of his sensei, though his figure of speech remained as baffling as Sasuke recalled. Unfortunately for Lee, the Uchiha held no desire to test his might in the current situation, as doing so would reveal his Sharingan to every one of the assembled Genins, thereby nullifying the tactical advantage of a trump-card.

"Sorry; not interested."

"Argh! You are as hip as your sensei! But you WILL fight me, now! If not, I'll simply attack you!"

Gai's other Genins chose that very moment to intervene for much the same reasons that the Uchiha refused the offer of a bout. A girl with brown hair held Rock Lee by his shoulder even as she admonished him.

"Rock Lee! We agreed not to show off our strength unless absolutely necessary."

Immediately, Gai's apprentice seemed doused with water and started sputtering.

"Tenten! But I just wanted to test my youthfulness against a genius!"

This time, it was a boy who addressed Lee as he emerged from behind Tenten, clearly the other member of Gai's squad if his tone were any indication.

"If he is truly a genius, then fate has decreed that you will lose. Do you really want to test fate now, before the exam even begins and your weakness is shown?" Lee looked indignant at his dressing-down, matching his interlocutor's cold dismissive tone with a heated stare. However, the effort was wasted as the latter simply turned to Sasuke. "My name is Hyuuga Neji and I apologize for my teammate. He is sometimes rather... hotheaded."

"Hn. Uchiha Sasuke. No apologies required."

Despite averting an outright confrontation, the incident was outstanding enough to warrant the approach of yet another Konoha Genin, this one with silver hair drawn back into a ponytail and round spectacles framing grey eyes wide and innocent.

"Hey, I understand that you are excited to participate in the Chunin exams for the first time, but you'll want to keep it down. There are some who don't like the noise, like those Kiri Genins behind you." At the hint, the rookie Genins looked back only to find that the newcomer wasn't lying: there was a group burly Mist ninjas glaring at them rather heatedly. Kabuto smiled softly. There Konoha rookies really were gullible! Especially that Naruto, who kept looking even farther and saw Sabaku no Gaara. Yet his goals were not achieved quite yet and hence he could not risk blowing his cover, especially when two so-called "geniuses" were present. Thus, instead of allowing his smile to become vicious, Kabuto addressed them once more with the same meek voice. "Here's something to do instead. Why don't you ask me about the other Genins you're interested in?"

"Yosh! Tell us about Sasuke!"

"Sasuke, hm? Here," Kabuto answered while removing a deck of cards. He deftly removed one from the stack and imbued it with his chakra. "Let's see. _'Uchiha Sasuke, Genin. Ninjutsu: C+-rank, Taijutsu: C-rank, Genjutsu: Unknown. Missions: 45 D-rank and one A-rank.'_ One _A-rank_ within four months of active duty! That's mighty impressive." Kabuto looked up to Sasuke and smiled genially. "I guess they don't call you a genius for nothing!"

Sasuke, if at all perturbed, maintained his aloofness without trouble. "Hn."

"Let's see what else is in here. _'Known jutsus: Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu and Katon: Housenka no Jutsu.'_ You like fire jutsus, don't you? _'Is rumored to have knowledge of the famed Uchiha Taka taijutsu style, and is suspected to have latent Genjutsu abilities.'_" Kabuto frowned at his information card. "That's strange, my data is usually contains more concrete information. Well, no matter. After all, this indicates that our records are tighter than most, eh? _'Kekkai Genkai: Sharingan. Allows the wielder to...'_ Well, I'm sure we all know already what the Sharingan does, and we wouldn't want to tip off the other Genins now, do we?"

Sasuke brushed off Kabuto's tight smile with yet another contemptuous "Hn." However, to the surprise of his teammates, Sasuke had not finished addressing Kabuto quite yet. "What information do you have on this guy?" It seemed that in return to having his data broadcasted by this strange Genin to all and sundry, Sasuke wished some information in compensation.

"Rock Lee, right?" Kabuto waited for the boy to nod eveb as he shuffled his cards in anticipation. By the time the confirmation came, the correct card was already in the silver-haired Genin's hand and ready for use. "_'Rock Lee, Genin._ _Ninjutsu: none, Taijutsu: B-rank, Genjutsu: none.'_" Kabuto lifted one slender eyebrow. "B-rank _taijutsu_, without _ninjutsu_ or _genjutsu_? I have to admit, this is rather unorthodox!"

"YOSH! I will show everyone that _taijutsu_ alone is enough. I will become a great ninja even without _ninjutsu_ and _genjutsu_, or I will run 300 times around Konoha backwards on my hands!

Kabuto was surprised by the Genin's... _youthful_ declaration, though he recomposed himself quickly. "If you say so. I'm sure you'll be the first ninja to ever gain the rank of Chunin without any _ninjutsu_ or _genjutsu_. Let's see... What else is there? _'Missions: 100 D-rank, 15 C-rank and 4 B-rank. Tenketsus are unable to change shape. Subject is therefore unable to perform ninjutsu or genjutsu of any kind, though the capability of molding chakra and dispelling genjutsu is retained. Studied Goken-style taijutsu under Maito Gai, his Jonin sensei, and is proficient in the style. Is a natural suiken fighter, and secondhand reports indicate extremely low tolerance to ethanol.'_ Hm... A Genin with natural _suiken_ style? That's unseen of since quite a while!"

"What about me?" Naruto was bouncing on his feet from excitement.

"Uzumaki Naruto, right? Hm... _'Uzumaki Naruto. Ninjutsu: C-rank, Taijutsu: D-rank, Genjutsu: E-rank.'_"

"WHAT!"

"_'Missions...'_ I'll skip that as it's the same as Sasuke's profile. _'Known jutsus: Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and Fuuton: Repputoppa.'_ Those clones are quite chakra-draining! _'Is rumored to have defeated a traitor Chunin Academy Instructor with the Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. The instructor revealed a systematic sabotage of the subject's Academy education. The data reflects the probable level reached after remedial training subject has reportedly undergone.' _That's all I have on you, Naruto-san."

"So troublesome. What about you yourself?" Shikamaru, who had approached the group with Ino, asked the question in his narcoleptic paradigm.

"Me?" Kabuto offered a self-deprecating smile. "I'm afraid I'm not that special. This will be the seventh time I've taken these exams, which should tell you much about my strength."

"It seems that fate does not favor you."

"Yes, it does seem that way, doesn't it?"

Sakura was the first to voice the corollary to Kabuto's high failure rate. "Wait! If you've taken it so many times, you should know some stuff about it, don't you? Like what the tests are, how hard they are, the success rate and the like?""Yosh! Only a flower as beautiful as you could be so intelligent! Sakura-chan, will you go out with me?" Lee accompanied his... _youthful_ declaration with airborne kisses sent Sakura's way. At a loss as to the effect of these unconventional projectiles, the pink-haired Genin dodged left and right to the best of her abilities.

Pitying Sakura in her desperate flight, Kabuto cleared his throat to gather attention back to himself. "Indeed I have, though my previous experience is unlikely to be helpful. After all, I'm not the only one who's failed previous exams here."

"That makes sense," answered Sakura while nodding thoughtfully.

"But as you can see, I've compiled data about the exams. As I've mentioned, few ever get to pass the exam on their first attempt. Even fewer are actually able to take the exam while rookie Genins -by rookies, I mean those with no more than a year of experience as Genins. This year is unusual because we have twelve rookies from Konoha (that's including the three newly-graduated teams), three from Suna and three from Ame. This is also the first time since the inception of inter-village Chunin Exams that Kiri has sent a team to Konoha. There's also some new village called Otogakure, which probably means that it's still small. On the other hand, that also means I have no data on their abilities and the standards for their Academy or for nomination requirements into the Chunin exams."

At that point, the aforementioned Sound Genins had stood up and swaggered by to confront Kabuto. "No data, huh? How about we give you some?" The brawnier of the trio accompanied his question with his fist swinging toward Kabuto. It was a raw, wild punch, one that telegraphed the movement well before the fist was even cocked back. As such, it was no surprise to any of the Konoha Genins when Kabuto easily retreated a half-step, gracefully inching his head just out of range from the incoming attack. What caught them flat-footed, however, was Kabuto's reaction as soon as the limb passed overhead, the lens of his glasses shattering and Kabuto's eyes losing focus just as he cupped his hands over his ears and bowled down into a foetal position.

"Hah! Take that, you four-eyed freak! As the name indicates, we have honed some sound-based abilities. They're pretty useful, wouldn't you say? Oh?" The Sound ninja raised an eyebrow as the Konoha Genins surrounded them and sunk down into fighting stances. "Do you want a taste of this as well?"

It was Kabuto who diffused the hostilities.

"Maa, maa, it's alright, guys. I'm fine," he called out even as his hands hovering on either side of his ears glowed green. "I know some _ijutsu_, so I'm covered. And my bad; I shouldn't have said anything about your village if I didn't know it for sure, such as implying that your village is small. Thank you for providing helpful information."

The double-doors at the other end of the room blasted inward at that moment with a clang loud enough to reveal a group of grim-faced ninjas who strode in casually, smirking at the startled Genins. The one in the lead with bandages wrapped around his skull addressed the crowd in a menacing rasp that sent needles of dread raking down their spines.

"All right, you maggots, quiet down! Or do you want me to send you out for disobedience?" Immediately, the Genins silenced and stilled. "Ah, that's better. Now, take the seat corresponding to the number you've been assigned. Those were randomly selected and given to your Jonin-senseis, so don't expect to be seated next to someone you know." The man waited for everyone to settle down before continuing. "My name is Morino Ibiki and I am the proctor of the first exam. You will be distributed your tests in a short while. The questions have been scrambled, so don't expect to pass by cheating. In addition, you should also know this: there are nine questions on the forms you'll receive. I will wait forty-five minutes before giving the last question. The exam will last exactly one hour.

"But that isn't all. Everyone starts with ten points and lose one point for every mistake. This means that you could lose all ten points with ten mistakes in one answer. If one person in the team loses all ten points, then the entire team fails. If sum of the scores no more than 20, the entire team also fails. To further discourage cheating, we will post two sentries at each end of the rows, and two sentries at each end of the columns. They will deduct two points from anyone even suspected of cheating, and anyone caught cheating outright will lose all marks. Needless to say, if anyone loses all ten points due to cheating, we will oust them from the room together with their teammates. Any questions?"

Ibiki waited for anyone to raise a hand. "Good, because I wouldn't have answered any. If anyone flips over the test before I tell you to do so, that person will lose two points. The tests will be handed out now." Ibiki waited for everyone to receive their copies before speaking up again. "You may start." Seeing that no one reacted, Ibiki smiled. "Very good. Flip over the tests now!" A rustle of papers accompanied his command.

* * *

Deep underneath Konoha, much below the sewer system, there was a system of interconnected caves with some water trickling along. It was a desolate place, one that even rats and snakes shunned, the mephitic fumes enough to send any who dared breach it scampering alone. Yet two cloaked figure still progressed toward each other, crouched low enough to have their knees grazing the foul liquid beneath their clothes and occasionally even dropped to their hands to stabilize themselves whenever the stalagtites jutted down too low from the ceiling. It was a time-consuming and arduous endeavour, yet both figures persisted until they met.

"Orochimaru-sama."

"Ah, Kabuto-kun! What a nice discovery these caves are! However did you manage to find it?"

"It was quite by accident. While practising the _Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu_, I tried to delve as deep into the earth as I could when I encountered these caves."

"Kukuku! Never underestimate the power of idle training, Kabuto-kun!"

"Never, Orochimaru-sama."

"Now, how are the preparations going?"

"I suspect there are three Genin groups which may be particularly well-placed for our purposes: the group from Kiri, the group from Kusa, the group from Iwa and the group from Ame. There i also a group from Oto, though I suspect you have ulterior uses for them, and have therefore not included them as a contingency plan."

"Really, Kabuto-kun, do you expect all of them to pass the first test?"

"Kiri and Iwa nins are not known to simply abandon in the middle of a mission, while Kumo and Kusa are typically very disciplined and thorough in their academic training. The Genins in question seem particularly so inclined, and therefore I believe they will pass the first test."

"Ah, Kabuto-kun, aren't you just forgetting who the proctor is for the first exam?"

"Morino Ibiki? I suspect he will play mind tricks with us, though the actual test itself should be at about the same level as the previous ones."

"True, true. Tell me, Kabuto-kun, which of the three would you recommend if they all passed?"

"Kusa. This will make them unwilling to help Konoha when the war starts."

"Such a devious mind, Kabuto-kun! Very well, then, Kusa will be our first choice."

"Orochimaru-sama?"

"Hm? Is something the matter, Kabuto-kun?"

"Would you really trust me this much, Orochimaru-sama?"

"Kukuku! Very astute, Kabuto-kun! No, not quite just yet; I had already made up my mind. Now, what would your back-up plan be?"

"Kiri, as that would make of them a willing ally when word gets out that Konoha butchered their Genins."

"Perfect! So, all that remains is waiting for the exam to finish and see if your projections were correct."

"As you wish, Orochimaru-sama."

"Oh, and Kabuto? Never insult me again by sending a clone to meet me."

* * *

"Danzou-sama."

"Sentry 7."

"We have detected movement deep below the sewer systems."

"How many?"

"Two. We suspect Orochimaru to be one of them."

Danzou tapped his cane thoughtfully. "Very well. Send offensive cells 15, 28 and 37 to surround them and containment units 19, 35, 51, 59 and 62. Kill them with extreme prejudice; starting with a gas/venom attack. I want surveillance group 12 to report as soon as the attack ends."

* * *

Naruto was dismayed. The first question required him to describe the path of a shuriken thrown by a vaulting ninja from the perspective of a tumbling observer. He didn't cover this with Ebisu! While he did learn to calculate the trajectory of a thrown shuriken and the equations involved to describe the movement, a stationary thrower was assumed, much less a moving point of reference. Perhaps he could derive the answer by calculating each component separately and then figuring out how each component related to the other, if he had the time. However, the forty-five minutes granted for the first nine questions pressed him for speed, and thus Naruto was forced to reject this option. The blond therefore wrote the equations for calculating each step and simply proceeded to the next question without answering the first.

As soon as he read it, though, he wished he didn't. This one was even worse: he was asked to explain the flaws in the exploding seal drawn in the examination sheet. While he was able to identify the defects, nobody ever explained how seals worked. As such, he wrote down the flaws and read the next question, which asked the strategy used by the Shodaime Kazekage and Hokage in some obscure battle during the First Great Shinobi World War. This wasn't covered at all! And scrolling down, Naruto found his dismay growing into a pit of cold clenching his torso: he was unable to provide a single answer.

Forcing himself to calm down, Naruto tried to weasel out where he strayed the path, why he was utterly unable to complete the exam. It wasn't his education, as clearly the questions went above what they'd learned in the Academy and in his remedial classes. It might have been expected that their Jonin senseis would cover all this with their Genin teams, yet Naruto found that unlikely. That would have meant more studying, which was unlikely to sit well on Gennins already saddled with D- and E-rank missions. For the same reason, Naruto decided that Genins weren't expected to study alone, not in this much depth and breadth of material. That left... the exam, concluded Naruto after some deep thinking.

Naruto wasted a few minutes wallowing on the unfairness of the exam, precious minutes that flowed by forever gone before he began doubting whether the exam really was unfair. After all, very few of the Genins could possibly know most of this: from Konoha, only Sakura did. Thus, to have two academically-oriented Genins placed on the same team would be even less probable, and having no teams pass would reflect badly on the examiner. Thus, Naruto found himself scrutinizing the exam rules rather than the questions themselves.

Soon enough, Naruto found two loopholes he could use to his advantage: one was that covertly cheating would only result in disqualification after the fifth attempt, which was four times more lenient than the Academy standards. This would almost encourage Genins to cheat and to cheat thoroughly: given that the order of the questions was scrambled, one had to spy on both the question and the answer if one were to trust the results of espionage.

The second loophole, however, was much more subtle: points were deducted on _mistakes_ rather than wrong answers. As such, if everything Naruto wrote was correct, he would lose no points, much like one particular team-training exercise involving memorizing aliases that Kakashi had sprung on them. With a sigh of relief, Naruto sat back and discreetly observed the various Chunin hopefuls around him. Hinata sat on his immediate right. She had her head bowed so deeply that her face was completely obstructed. Most likely, she was hiding the _Byakugan_. This behavior was suspicious enough to warrant losing two points, yet that was still acceptable if she could gain eight points for a loss of two. On his right sat an Ame Genin who...

"Numbers 4, 19 and 82, get out!"

"Numbers 13, 25 and 18 as well, you've failed."

"Numbers 31, 42 and 73!"

... was apparently not covert enough with his water-created mirrors. The call had more effect than simply removing three Genins: it also reminded Naruto of his own precarious position. If his casual glances were suspicious enough, he could even be deducted points! As the blond had no intention of letting that happen, he simply focused on completing the first question without making mistakes. Unfortunately, he couldn't get past the initial equations, no matter how he massaged the equations around to chain them together. There just wasn't any way he could turn the equations into something workable; he was missing some knowledge, some basic mathematics that he simply didn't have time to derive or circumvent.

Naruto returned to the second question barely five minutes later, thoroughly disgruntled. There was something there, something that seemed to taunt him in that design. The first seal array was what he'd seen before, but the second... The second was off, somehow, warped in a way that Naruto had never seen. What exactly was it, anyways, that made exploding tags so volatile? Naruto could recall how Ebisu had ordered him to memorize the standard seals for explosive tags, storage seals and security seals, yet wouldn't explain how to make them. Instead, Naruto was left with a warning: more than a few Genins had blown themselves up when trying to create exploding tags due to an inkdrop or a misplaced stroke. Whereas creating the other seals wasn't hazardous, it was removed from the curriculum due to these experiments.

Which led to Naruto's problem: there was _something_ in that design that was utterly wrong, yet he couldn't explain why. Noticing the out-of-place dot and the extra line in that section relative to the central character was but a trivial exercise, and yet Naruto didn't understand his sudden fascination with the problem. It seemed somehow familiar, yet not. After doodling nearly five minutes, peppering the margins of his paper, Naruto suddenly understood. This portion of the seal was very similar to the simple battery that Kakashi had given them as training to increase their chakra reserves. Of course, he had joined several of those seals for Naruto and included other seals around to enhance the infusion speed, probably power multipliers judging by the characters involved, but the base of the seal was still recognizable.

Yet this portion, though similar, was not quite the same as the battery seal. It was instead some unusual merger between the battery seal and the normal portion of an explosive seal in this position, with something else also affecting the mix. Naruto traced the design of the battery seal absent-mindedly as well as the standard explosive seal side-by-side with the one on the exam. Tilting his head to the side, Naruto stared at the designs until his eyes crossed. It was then that he had an epiphany: the patterns were similar in some manner to those illusions in civilian books he so enjoyed browsing under a _Henge_, representing a complex three-dimensional image within the flat space of a sheet of paper that required you to cross your eyes just so for the random twiddles to fuse together coherently. In this instance, however, the seals were much more complex, as they represented channels for chakra in four dimensions -three spatial ones and as well as a temporal delay that depended on the branching patterns and distance across plain paper, with the characters serving as some form of "black box" which could convert the raw terrain into a working chakra unit.

Giddy with this newfound paradigm, Naruto looked over each one carefully and noted how each brushstroke interplayed with the previous ones, forming a seamless landscape in the standard seals and a disjoint, chaotic warzone in the improper one. Whereas the battery seal gave an appearance of stabibility and sturdiness, and whereas the explosive tag looked volatile and temperamental, it felt as if each of the little changes drawn on the test paper destabilized the entire seal, as if that dot would completely disrupt the chakra flowing into the seal during its creation by creating an island facilitating movement through paper and the line underneath it would block the release path when unleashing chakra back out by countering it with yet more chakra running perpendicular to the chakra gradient. Indeed, Naruto looked, entranced, as he imagined moving the dot just a tad closer to the center, even further than its original placement.

Naruto almost wrote down his observations before snapping himself out of his trance: this was an exam! His inattention could have cost him (and his teammates) a promotion to Chunin, as he didn't know anything about _Fuuinjutsu_ other than how to identify the standard basic tags. Shaking his head, he asked one of the Chunin invigilators for a piece of scrap paper that wouldn't count in the grading. Thoroughly baffled, the Chunin relayed the request to Ibiki who turned to Naruto and smiled toothily, sending shivers creeping up and down the Genin's spine. When Ibiki acquiesced the request, Naruto wasn't sure whether asking was such a good idea after all.

* * *

"Danzou-sama."

"Surveillance group 12. Your report?"

"The restricted gas/venom combination attack failed. It was followed by an acid mist/poisoned senbon attack that struck down the attendant, by which time the ink creatures were ready. They were dispelled by _Sen'ei Ta Jashu_ and Orochimaru was left weakened when the poisoned ink splattered over him. The confusion was enough to allow us to poison him with a combination of senbons, acid spray and poison mist."

"Where is the body?"

"We have sealed it."

"Did you confirm the identity?"

"We have."

"Good. Destroy the scroll. Dismissed."

"Yes, Danzou-sama."

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Naruto had completed a blueprint for his "improved" exploding tag, one that felt as if its explosion would be proportional to the quantity of chakra infused rather than only accepting one set amount and buffering everything else outside the seal. The delay between activation of the tag and explosion was also variable: depending on the composition of the chakra when activating, depending on how "sticky" it was, it would take anywhere between no delay and a whole month, rather than clogging up as soon as the correct amount of chakra was inserted regardless of the quality of the chakra.

Now out of activities to distract himself with, Naruto wrote down his reasoning for avoiding having points deducted from his exam as a note on the bottom right corner of the exam. However, it didn't take long before boredom overtook Naruto once more. The blond Genin started memorizing the tag, wanting to ask Kakashi about it when they were done. Ibiki's voice startled him out of this latest creative streak. "All right, you worms, heads up! Forty-five minutes have passed and I will unveil the last question. But before that, I have to introduce new clauses."

Murmurs rippled through the remaining Genins before Ibiki ruthlessly squashed them with a release of killer intent. "Silence! Now, as I was saying, there are clauses related to this question and only this question. First, you get to choose whether to take the question or to leave it. If you don't take the question, you will immediately lose ten points and both you and your teammates will fail. On the other hand, if you take it I will be the only one personally correcting it. If you answer incorrectly or if I don't like your answer for some reason I am in no obligation of divulging, I will fail both you and your team. Oh, and one more rule; the desperation rule. If there is any mistake in this last question, _any_ mistake at all that I see, I will bar you from reaching Chunin rank. Forever."

Ibiki swept the room with a contemptuous stare, a flicker of amusement displayed for all to see. "I'm guessing that you know that the next exams won't be in Konoha for quite a while and therefore we can't prevent you from partaking in them. But that doesn't matter." Any amusement which Ibiki allowed to surface simply disappeared as he hardened his stance. His voice but a soughing whisper, Ibiki resumed, "That doesn't matter because the Hokage will not allow your graduation. While I'm not politically powerful enough to make a difference, I'm sure you all know that the _Hokage_ is."

Ibiki waited three breaths, saturating the room with killer intent once more. "Whoever wants to leave raise their hands. Once the correct seat numbers are called, you may leave the room."

No one immediately lifted their hands or bolted out of the room, but Ibiki was not worried. He knew his reputation as a sadist was well-earned. Thus, he was certain that many would be leaving this room shaken and broken, even were he not leaking killer intent by the wagonful. Yet he was not going to deprive himself of the pleasure and simply sit back to watch the Genins mull over their thoughts, as Mitarashi Anko would be getting impatient if he did not hurry up. Therefore, Ibiki crossed his arms and smiled as he gradually increased the pressure in conjunction with the subtle increase in temperature he had ordered. A few of the weaker examinees seemed to almost choke on his aura and soon enough one Genin tentatively raised his hands, sweat beading down his face. Though his teammates glared at him, he kept his arm straight and soon enough all three left the room.

This started a tidal wave as more and more Genins left the room, heads bowed down in shame to weather the recrimination from their teammates, until the first wave of quitters died down to a trickle. Ibiki almost snorted: within five minutes, less than a third of the original body of Chunin hopefuls were still in the game. Which was a shame, really, because all those who left missed his newest scare tactic.

"You maggots! You think you're all that? You think you're ready to make Chunin?" Ibiki snorted while releasing a large wave of intent, almost as much as the standard opening volley he employed when starting an interrogation of a recalcitrant enemy, though still quite tame in comparison to what he routinely released if there were even the slightest time pressure involved in extracting the information. "Think again! The statistics clearly speak against you: only less than one percent of all applicants ever make it in any given exam; sometimes none at all!" While this was true, there were still two other stages in the exam and the first test typically eliminated only roughly 80% of the population. However, that proportion was much less impressive and Ibiki kept it to himself, releasing another wave of his foul chakra to befuddle the Genins into ignoring the imprecise information. "Perhaps you think you're part of the exceptional ones who'll make it this time. Hn. Are you ready to gamble on your beliefs, on your ego? Are you sure you want to risk your careers on this one question?"

Sure enough, his speech prompted many to raise their hands and dodge out of the room. Ibiki was rather proud of his achievement: less than 10% of the original body remained in the room, and he could see many were still wavering. One was surprisingly Haruno Sakura: only she of all the assembled Genins had been able to answer most of the questions without resorting to the sneaky ninja arts, yet her hand was already halfway towards raising. The only reason would be concern for her teammates, or at least one of them. Ibiki briefly toyed with the idea of letting the team pass due to her consideration for her teammates before discarding the idea.

Of course, she did have Naruto as a teammate and his scores at the Academy gained almost legendary status as the lowest ever for a graduated student. That was however due to sabotaged education and should have been counteracted by his remedial training, both of which she should have been aware of. If she were still inclined to fail the exam for his sake, they definitely deserved to fail for lack of communication between team members. After all, feeling bonds between teammates was admirable but could only help so much in the field if it didn't result in proper communication.

Naruto, on the other hand, looked perfectly content with his answers. Ibiki really couldn't figure out why: he knew that most of the questions were complete blanks and only the first two were partially completed, along with one sheet of scrap paper set aside. Did he truly expect his teammates to obtain perfect scores to balance his own mediocre one? Even if that were the case, shouldn't he be squirming on his seat, wondering whether to call it quits? Instead, he was sitting tall and looked completely detached in sharp contrast to the fidgeting Sakura. What could he possibly be thinking?

* * *

Naruto had been listening carefully for the loophole. At the beginning, it had seemed as though it were no longer available when Ibiki said he'd reject the answer "if he didn't like it." At that point, Naruto had thought that the clause had been enacted solely to oust him. The next condition was about making mistakes, which would be as absent from Naruto's test as the answer. Nonetheless, the previous clause was still disconcerting and Naruto was kept on the edge of his seat. It was later that Ibiki mentioned having confirmed the clauses with the Hokage -which would mean that he couldn't arbitrarily dismiss Naruto. The blond breathed easier after that: there was no way that the Old Man would allow this creep to disqualify him for "not liking his answer" when there was no answer to dislike! To make sure that Ibiki couldn't claim that as an excuse made after the fact, Naruto even wrote down the loophole before the question, in case any dispute were to arise.

Struck by a sudden thought, Naruto wondered whether his teammates would have noticed this loophole or whether they only spotted the one encouraging subtle cheating. If they didn't, they wouldn't know that he was fine and as a result the team as a whole might get disqualified due to their thoughtfulness. He had to get a way to signal to them that he was alright, that he wasn't simply being cavalier with his chances for promotion. Sneaking a glance back, he knew he had to act soon, as Sakura was already inching her hand up. Naruto thought quickly: he had to attract Sakura and Sasuke's attentions without getting disqualified for cheating. In the end, Naruto could only think of one way to accomplish his goals. Hopefully, Sakura wouldn't bash him too hard.

* * *

Several attributes are necessary to become a master interrogator. The first and the most commonly recognized is the willingness to cause pain. Indeed, Ibiki was not only willing but an expert in this area, as proven the many screams from even the hardiest prisoner in the dungeon. However, in order to avoid damaging the body, one had to maximize the pain while minimizing the physiological damage. Many textbooks on this subject were authored by Ibiki himself and through smuggling, even the Iwa torture and interrogation squads now employed the lower-level methods used by Ibiki.

Much more important, though, and the specialty of Ibiki, was psychological torture. After all, many prisoners would be willing to say anything to stop the physical torture and therefore the information thus extracted is not always reliable. Psychological torture, on the other hand, involved breaking the subject's will to withhold information. As a result, it is much more preferable to use psychological torture whenever possible, and Ibiki had encountered many such possibilities over his career. Currently, he was using the very principles of psychological torture to make Genins reveal their will to pursue their goal, though he was restricted by the parameters of the exam. Nevertheless, he was a genius in this field, and he was able to subject the Genins through an ordeal far harsher than would be apparent to the external observer.

For instance, he had placed the Chunin invigilators such that the Genins would be forced to look up and squint to meet their gaze. The placement of the sentries was also carefully arranged to cause irrational despair, as each person was chosen for clashing with the next both in chakra and in appearance. The irregular rhythm of his own chakra pulsing was meant to not only demoralize but also destabilize the Genins. Finally, the main arrangement was in the room itself: he had modified its design so that his own voice and chakra would reflect from every direction. Thus, when he rasped, the Genins would hear it from behind even as he stayed firmly in front. When he released his killer intent, the Genins would be enveloped in it rather than be blown by a simple wave of threat.

Yet despite all of his precautions, Naruto suddenly stood up, for all intents and purposes disrupting the carefully crafted environment. Ibiki focused his attention on the Genin even as he absent-mindedly waved off the Chunin attendant who was about to dismiss Team Seven. The attendant could not be reasonably blamed for mistaking Naruto's actions, as it was expected that someone with such low Academic records as Naruto did that he would quit under conditions as unfavorable as these. That Naruto did not complete any of the previous questions also did not bode well for his chances. Yet Naruto had kept his resolve firm when he glared at Ibiki straight into the eyes.

"I won't just quit; not now after sitting all this time in here!"

Naruto was about to continue, but Ibiki didn't wish all of his hard work on the remaining Genins to go to waste. Therefore, before blond could continue, Ibiki interrupted, "Fine, fine, but that's your choice. Of course, it's also your teammates', but you've made yourself clear. Now sit down and let the others decide for themselves, will you?" The famed interrogator laced his speech with random spikes of his foul presence to attempt to offset the blond's interference. Unfortunately, only two more teams left after that.

"Any one else want to quit now, before it's too late? _Anyone?_ Last chance! Going once..." One more Genin meekly lifted her hand. "Going twice..." Three more Genin teams joined the others on the other side of the doors. "Gone!"

Ibiki stalked the remaining students with his glare, his predatory smile at the ready. With great relish, he licked his lips and slowly, deliberately, he pointed a finger in their general direction while he steadily poured an increasing amount of killer intent, nasty and foreboding. When his finger was extended to the maximum extent, he suddenly dropped both his expression and his killer intent completely. "You all pass!"

"Huh?" "Hn." "What?" "What the..."

Seeing (and hearing) the confusion in his audience, Ibiki elaborated his statement, going over the reasons for the first nine questions as well as the true nature of the tenth question. The Genins were nonplused as expected when he emphasized over and over again the importance of information -acquiring, verifying, protecting, and disseminating information, both true and false. Ibiki wanted -nay, _needed_- to convey the importance of this concept to these Genins, as this was the most appropriate moment to impart his wisdom: the Genins were still vulnerable from the ordeal of completing the written test while they acknowledged him as a superior given his role in the exam. In the event that any of them would eventually be promoted to Chunin, they would have to treat information carefully, and that was Ibiki's role in this exam. In the end, much as he had anticipated, they had difficulty absorbing his lesson from words alone and he was forced to shock them with his scars, the terrible price of information crisscrossing his skull in ragged patterns.

A sudden silence, a palpable gloom permeated the air as the message finally -_finally!_- sunk in, and Ibiki let himself relax. Information was the very blood of the ninja's lifestyle; it was not something to be trifled with. Though Ibiki simply repeated the same concepts one last time, his audience was much more receptive this time around. With a smirk, Ibiki decided that he was proud of his work with these Genins: though more remained than expected thanks in no small part to Naruto's intervention, those who remained had absorbed both of his lessons in their entirety. In short, he had successfully weeded out those who weren't ready for the next stage from the initial batch, and if more remained than he'd originally estimated, Ibiki was still confident in the quality of his elimination process.

Speaking of which, the next proctor should be signalled for her "laboriously prepared" entrance. With a sigh, Ibiki steeled his nerves and pressed the hidden button on his watch. Right on cue, Mitarashi Anko made her entrance, complete with broken glass and oversized banner displaying redundant (and rather inappropriate) information. Ibiki wondered whether Anko would be better suited as "Konoha's Most Deranged Ninja", and sighed yet again. Well, no matter, his goal was done.

Or rather, he thought it was until he noticed how Anko was completely oblivious to the state of shock she'd put the students in. After all, her actions clashed rather blatantly with his lecture on the importance of information. Her speech only confirmed Ibiki's suspicion: she'd commented on them being _happy_ about passing the first test! Clearing his throat, he reminded Anko to pay attention to her surroundings and note how somber the Genins were, at which point some pink-haired girl had to complain about the Special Jonin's carelessness. Fortunately, the flaky Special Jonin didn't take offense at the dig and simply accepted Ibiki's advice.

Cheekily turning to Ibiki, Anko asked, "How come there's still so many people! Are you getting soft in your old age?"

Ibiki refused to play her game and reveal the true statistics (after all, he _did_ manage to eliminate more people than usual, even if the remaining number was still slightly above-average), keeping his cool instead. "What can I say? There were more talented people this year."

Pouting at his even tone, Anko replied, "I see." She now turned to address the Genins once more. "Ah well, doesn't matter, really. In _my_ test, I'll cut y'all into less than half." The crazed look in her eyes suggested that maybe she meant it quite literally, and the thought was enough to make some examinees blue with fear. "You're allowed to eat a super-late lunch if you really want to. Whatever. For those who know where it is, the test'll be in Area 44. For the rest, just ask your instructors. Be there by 4:00PM or don't bother. See y'all!" With a cheery wave, Anko jumped right out the hole in the window and performed a _Shunshin_ from thin air.

Ibiki coughed to get the Genin's attentions. He was slightly more responsible than Anko, after all. "If you'll go out the doors, there's a chart indicating where your Jonin senseis should be resting. You're encouraged to meet with them briefly before the next test. Dismissed!"

That announcement was all the Genins were waiting for and they gladly took the cue to disperse into a rowdy crowd, giddy from the excitement over passing the first test. Once the Genins left, Ibiki thanked and dismissed the Chunin invigilators.

* * *

"Well, well, Kabuto; though the Iwa nins failed the test, it seems you were right about the Kusa nins. They did make it through."

"Indeed they did, Orochimaru-sama."

"According to your intelligence, when should I move?"

"I believe that the most opportune time would be right after their meeting with their sensei. It seems they share a strong bond and it might be difficult to properly emulate all of their mannerisms in the short time span available. I don't expect there to be a problem with dispatching their sensei, but to do so would prematurely alert the authorities to foul play."

"Kukuku! As efficient as always, Kabuto. Very well, then, that's when I'll strike. I trust you left two bodies in the caves below for our dear Konoha sentries?"

"I have."

"Good. In that case, I believe you have teams to contact, and I have teams to infiltrate. Dismissed."

* * *

By the time the famed interrogator was left alone in the room, he allowed himself a genuine smile as he started collecting the exams -Naruto had truly surprised him with his speech. With determination such as his, perhaps becoming Hokage was not so outlandish a dream as had initially seemed for a _jinchuuriki_. Of course, Ibiki never bore him any personal grudge and may be underestimating the ill will the villagers held.

Out of curiosity, Ibiki moved to Naruto's exam before collecting the others, and almost burst out laughing. The blond was quite clever indeed: in his haste to deduct as many points as possible from a question, Ibiki had forgotten the possibility of not having any answer at all! Truly, Kakashi had outdone himself with these Genins, if even the supposed dead-last had come so far. Still repressing a chuckle at being outsmarted by a _Genin_, Ibiki moved on to the scrap paper Naruto had boldly requested and promptly lost all of his mirth. _'How in the name of the Shinigami did Naruto end up with THIS sealing matrix?'_ Ibiki shook his head, disbelieving, and found his eyes drawn toward it once more only to find the same exploding tag staring back at him.

The annotations also made it abundantly clear: though Naruto lacked the proper technical terms employed by _Fuuinjutsu_ specialists, this was clearly not a fluke brought about by random doodling. Naruto had deliberately and systematically described the prototype tag developed by ANBU for ANBU-specific missions just five years ago! How could this possible? _Fuuinjutsu_ was a skill left untouched even in its impractical theoretical underpinnings until one reached Chunin, and even the library section required Chunin-level unlocking mechanisms just to access the most basic discussions of this art. The prototype had taken three more years to refine into the usable form ANBU currently preferred, yet it took standard Sealcraftsmen two years just to derive this template. Slowly, softly, a smile crinkled Ibiki's face as he recalled a certain other blonde who was unaware of what he shouldn't have known, and the incredible heights that had been reached then.

_'Well, well, well. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Konoha's newest Fuuinjutsu genius!'_


	10. Ch9 Chunin Exams, Second Test Pt I

"Alright, you sissies! Welcome to Area 44, better known as the 'Forest of Death'. This test's gonna be hard, not like that joke you had earlier with that wimp Ibiki. It's much harder but much simpler. No need to look underneath all the rules." Already Naruto's mind seemed to wander off on its own even before any news of importance had been announced. Anko easily detected this lapse in attention and a kunai sprung from a flick of her fingers, flying close enough to Naruto to grace his cheek with a thin cut. She sped behind Naruto in time to secure his head by the hair even before enough blood had pooled to form a single drop. With great relish, she felt and smelled his exquisite fear at her crazed antics and dragged her tongue along the wound even as she needled the student (was he the _jinchuuriki?_) for his inattention. 'Heh! This is fun! This Genins are _so_ easy to manipulate; perhaps I should administer more of these tests.'

However, the Genin directly behind her managed to ruin her euphoric thoughts. "Proctor, I believe you dropped this."

Using her chakra-awareness, she was able to identify the exact location of the ill-restrained aura of the Grass Genin who approached her from behind. Anko deftly sprung from her coiled position, manic smile firmly in place, and twirled in the air much as a snake would, hand lashing out with extended fingers to retake the offered weapon as the venomous reptile would strike with open maws. When the Grass kunoichi failed to react, Anko almost _-almost-_ pouted. As that would have entirely destroyed her image, which would affect not only her reputation but the goals of the test as well by showing them a vulnerable overseer, the Special Jonin restrained her urge and in doing so started her subconscious analysis of the situation.

The conclusion was not pretty: the Kusa kunoichi had to have been of a much higher level than a simple Genin. On one hand, she was able to catch one of _Anko's_ flying kunais, a feat even mid-level Chunins struggled with. On the other hand, she displayed nary a twitch at Anko's acrobatics, acrobatics which were developed by Orochimaru himself to intimidate the enemy while leaking so little telegraphing that even Sharingan users (or, more accurately, novice Sharingan users) were completely fooled. Yet this supposed Genin from another village had been able to pinpoint the exact moment at which Anko would reappropriate her projectile! Worse still, her curse mark had started throbbing ever-so-slightly -if she hadn't been paying attention, she wouldn't have even noticed it.

Anko was tempted to call a halt in her exam. However, even though this would be well within her rights as a proctor, she felt that the best course of action was to pretend that she hadn't noticed anything amiss. She therefore tunneled back to the front with a _Shunshin_ before turning back to her audience. With great emphasis on the possibility of death, she unveiled the rules: enter the forest with one scroll and get to the tower in the middle by 120 hours with both scrolls. The one restriction: all three members have to be alive by the end of the contest, and the scrolls may not be opened until then. She then reminded them once more of the possibility of death by handing out waiver forms to remove any responsibility for deaths or serious injuries from Konoha. Anko collected the signed forms before she sent the Genins on the way to their respective starting gates, each with a Heaven or Earth scroll. At exactly 5:00PM, the gates opened and the game was on.

* * *

"Who in their right mind randomly licks another's blood? I mean, sheesh, that was creepy," one blond Konoha shinobi brayed with no particular audience in mind, thoroughly embarassed by his previous encounter with the proctor. "I mean, even if she didn't do that crazy..."

"Dobe; for the last time, _shut up_. You've said it already, we've heard it already. So stop repeating yourself! Stealth is part of this test. Do you want us to be ambushed just because little boy is a scaredy-cat?" Ever since the first test, Sasuke had been grumpy. Apparently, it had been a blow to his esteem that he'd had to play with the prescribed rules and had been unable to complete the exam without assistance.

"Teme! You didn't have her hold your head..."

"Naruto-baka, shut UP!" While the sheer volume was enough to send a few carrion birds cawking as they fled, it was her fist that effectively silenced Naruto. "You're disturbing Sasuke-kun, and you're endangering our mission." The tone left no doubt as to the priority of the two statements even if one were to discard the order in which they were delivered.

"Sakura-chan..."

The trio travelled a while, an uneasy silence reigning over them. Quietly and efficiently, they dispatched bloody chipmunks and giant tigers alike, and untangled themselves from countless predatory vines as they progressed further into the forest. The most unusual sight that greeted them, however, was that of a leech the size of a horse being devoured by a flower. They tiptoed their way around the plant and any flower in the vicinity, cautious and silent, only letting out their breath when they were surrounded by howling wolves.

* * *

Sakura started behaving suspiciously two hours into the Forest. At first, it was limited to stumbling every few steps, but then it spread to giggling in odd moments while covering her mouth with both hands. Naruto would have asked what was wrong, except that Sasuke also joined in the madness, tripping over thin air right before harshly attacking a stump of a tree with kunais on both hands. 'Wait. Both hands. Both Sakura and Sasuke.' Once Naruto caught onto the train of thought, it was shockingly easy to notice all of the other signs: hiding hands where only Naruto and Sasuke could see for but a fraction of a second while doing everything possible to show them at all other times, behaving wildly and blatantly out-of-character, bumbling through easy terrain; the list went on. Naruto decided to act up as well: he had to show his teammates that he'd gotten the right message. He was just as careful and care-free as his companions, and just as clumsy as well.

Suddenly, all three whirled around with different handsigns: Sakura in the Ram seal, Sasuke in the Tiger seal and Naruto in a cross-shaped seal. At once, the surroundings melted away to reveal the true environment behind the _genjutsu_ even as fire pooled out of Sasuke's mouth to form a gigantic fireball that blazed toward three Ame Genins while Naruto surrounded the entire area with _Kage Bunshins_. In hindsight, it was clear that the foreign examinees never stood a chance: they were woefully deficient in skills and tactics when compared with the Konoha nins. In addition, they had easily ensnared the wrong team with their _genjutsu_, as noticing the low-level illusion (one even weaker than what Kakashi had unleashed on Sakura during the Genin test) was but child's play for Sakura, who then alerted their teammates and overlaid Sasuke's Sharingan with black pupils even as he searched for the opposing team through the illusions.

As soon as Naruto joined in their scheming, they set up their strategy and executed it flawlessly: first Sakura would violently dispel the _genjutsu_, shocking them into inaction just long enough for Sasuke to send his _Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu_ toward the ninjas he's seen with his Sharingan. Naruto's role was that of a simple back-up, which he filled to his satisfaction when he knocked out the two who had predictably leapt away from the roaring fireball. Unfortunately, this team was also given an Earth scroll, which did not complement Team Seven's own scroll.

The Konoha ninjas sighed at expending so much effort for an ultimately pointless task before taking to the trees, never knowing that a pair of slitted yellow eyes had watched the exchange with rapt attention, noting that the Uchiha still took the Earth scroll after a while despite its apparent uselessness.

* * *

'Ah,' thought Orochimaru, 'one of them finally leaves the den. Who would have thought that it would be Naruto-kun who would need to relieve himself so quickly?'

In truth, Orochimaru had devised a plan for whichever Genin left the team first. He would test the Uchiha's mettle one-on-one if Sasuke were the first to leave his teammates, whereas Sakura would be gifted with an implanted urge and mark Sasuke in Orochimaru's stead. Currently, though, the plan the Snake Sannin set in motion was the one that most agreed with his serpentine urges. He silently drew a deep breath even as his fingers flew through a string of handseals with practiced ease, grinning madly only to loosen before reaching the end of the sequence.

'No, that won't do at all,' Orochimaru realized with a frown. In truth, he'd almost shredded the Genin with a Wind kinjutsu, and not even the thrice-damned _kitsune_ would be able to revive Naruto from the gory leftovers of the jutsu. He normally wouldn't be averse to such an outcome, though his plans required dear Sasuke-kun to make it through to the Finals, and killing the _jinchuuriki_ would automatically disqualify the entire team. No, that would be entirely inacceptable.

He would simply send one of his lesser summons to gobble up Naruto, Orochimaru decided with a twitch in his lips and dispel to the Snakes' Den until he had marked Sasuke, if necessary. Of course, he had also considered marking Sasuke after confronting the entire team. The injection process was a delicate task, however, and the seal itself was rather difficult to work with. As it was, Orochimaru could only afford to bring two custom-made cursed seals with him, leaving him with a low margin of error. Therefore, though the blond _jinchuuriki_ would be but an annoying swat, even annoying swats could unravel his carefully crafted scheme, especially if said swat's regenerative abilities threw a wrench in most restraining methods.

His mind racing through the various snakes available to his disposal, he finally decided on _Jakotsu_, a moderately-sized snake with a voracious apetite but nearly no digestive abilities. 'Kukuku, _Jakotsu_ will be pleased!' sneered Orochimaru. His hands flashed through the five required handseals: Boar, Dog, Rooster, Monkey and Ram. Just as he was about to slam his hand onto the ground, a flash of blond warned him to dodge. Dodge he did, though he kept his jutsu ready. As soon as he landed on a branch five meters above, he was glad for his reflexes: his prey had almost ensnared him with chakra-enhanced wires. He was of course quite capable of releasing himself from such an amateurish trap, though the barely-escaped humiliation was sufficient to make the leap worthwhile, however costly it may have been to jump while keeping a half-formed jutsu active.

When Orochimaru finally did slam his hand on the tree trunk, though, it was clear that Naruto had still managed to humiliate the Sannin: more chakra was suffused into the technique than intended as a result of the spectacular leap. '_Jakai_ instead of _Jakotsu_? Kukuku! Naruto, you'll pay for your insolence!'

"_Jakai_! I offer you this cute little runt as a snack." After the snake had complied with his orders, gulping down Naruto without any struggle or resistance from the latter, Orochimaru addressed his Summoned snake once more. "Good! As with snacks, though, I'm afraid you must regurgitate him just before he is fatally digested." Seeing his snake nod obediently, the Sannin added: "Oh, and dispel yourself if by some miracle you think he might damage you. Or regurgitate him then, it's your choice. You are too valuable to waste holding that insect away."

* * *

Naruto couldn't quite believe his eyes. A huge, giant, enormous, disproportionately large snake! A big _snake_! He'd thought himself desensitized to abnormally sized animals after his admittedly short foray into the Forest of Death, yet this one completely dwarfed everything else he'd ever seen, with the single exception of the _Kyuubi_ in his chakra-scape. He'd only known that the snake had swallowed him whole when the animal suddenly wasn't in his sight -nor could he see anything else for that matter, either in front or anywhere around him. It was only then that he was aware of the peristaltic motions clomping him down the reptile's oesophagus. Naruto flailed his hands about until he hit his thumb on some unknown object, something solid and compact quite unlike the slippery cartilage or the slimy mucus lining it. He tried to hold onto it, but he cut his hand in the process and blood lubricated his hand until his grip wasn't sufficient anymore. Sinuous contractions once more propelled him deeper into the snake's digestive tract.

Moments later, Naruto's dizzying descent abruptly stopped. He was surprised to find the snake's intestine quite spacious, with plenty of air to breathe. Unfortunately, the fumes from the knee-high digestive juices immediately sent Naruto coughing for quite a while. By that time, he'd adopted a most disagreeable disposition toward with his current living quarters. The thick liquid sloshing every which way was not quite corrosive enough to warrant immediate panic, though the blond was convinced it would eventually melt its way through his body. As Naruto had no intention of being absorbed by the snake, he catalogued the tools at his disposal for escaping his prison. There was of course the option of bursting through with a large number of _Kage Bunshins_. However, the likelyhood of succeeding in such a manner was rather low given that the thick connective tissue surrounding him should be tough enough to cause his clones to simply dispel. He could also try to carve his way out with a kunai, though the prospect of slicing his way across the thick muscles of the snake elicited a snort.

The imagery did however remind Naruto of one more technique in his arsenal: the _Fuuton: Kaze no Teisei_. The more Naruto thought about it, the more appropriate the method seemed: he would simply set the listening field to be the snake's body rather than the air immediately around him, and target the vulnerable brain rather than solid muscle and leathery skin. Naruto walked to the edge of the snake's digestive tract to put his hand on the epithelial tissue, repressing a shudder of disgust at the viscous secretions lining the stomach wall. Little did Naruto know that he had happened upon the safest place to put his hand: if he'd chosen a spot barely three inches in any direction, his hand would have dissolved from the concentrated acid being secreted along the stomach lining.

Naruto closed his eyes and sent his chakra bit by tiny bit into the summoned animal. It was a difficult task, the resident chakra disturbing the tiny film Naruto sent along. After a long delay, Naruto finally found the correct density with which chakra could be pumped, one that was neither so miniscule as to be perturbed by the resident chakra yet not quite large enough to be easily detected or, worse even, to disturb the snake's own chakra and disrupt the entire chakra field. His chakra now sped along what Naruto surmised was the spinal cord until suddenly the snake reared itself up, nearly causing Naruto to tumble upside-down and waste all of his efforts. Fortunately, his hand was still pumping out chakra and the blond managed to stick to the slimy surface just in time to avoid falling with the sluicing liquid.

Naruto concentrated hard on detecting the brain. Targeting through a hand rather than through his ears was a novel experience: he could _feel_ the snake's tiniest tremors resonate with his whole body. However, there was a task at hand and Naruto brought himself back to attention to complete it. It was then that he noticed a snag in his scheme: while he had successfully located his target using his hand, he was now unable to perform the required seals. Naruto immediately swung his leg up to contact the spot his hand was on and, without wondering about the very feasibility of his endeavor, he set about to transfer his detection field to his feet. A few tense seconds later, Naruto accomplished the impossible task and completed the _Kaze no Teisei_ by targeting through his feet. However, just before the nervous tissue was shredded, _Jakai_ detected the disturbance and promptly dispelled himself without his meal, leaving Naruto to sputter in the smoke while his painstakingly constructed detection field was thrown every which way. Several seconds later, his haywire _Kaze no Teisei_ destroyed a random tree thirty meters away.

* * *

Anko felt something when the Kusa Genin had handed her back her kunai. It wasn't simply wounded pride, as she knew exactly what that was and had taken great care in learning how to deal with such a condition since Orochimaru's betrayal of the village. No, it definitely wasn't wounded pride, even as she admitted to feeling slightly outraged. After all, it wasn't every day that Genins caught her kunai. A Genin!

Her source of unease was instead the casual way with which the Kusa Genin was nonplussed by her antics. It was true that she had telegraphed her movements much more than usual, yet the style should have still been enough to at least startle the Genin and caused confusion. Indeed, most people would require a _doujutsu_ to read her attacks despite the tics and extraneous movements. Instead, the Genin had simply released the kunai at the perfect moment to avoid having it snatched roughly out of her hands. It was almost as if she knew the Hebi style in depth, and only one person outside of Konoha knew that cursed style. Orochimaru.

Which was why she was standing inside a conference room with the Hokage, his ANBU and all the Jonins available.

"There is reason to believe Orochimaru is back in the village, under the guise of a Genin team." Ninjas were trained to be silent in the presence of their leader. However, the shock was such that mutterings could be heard rippling throughout the room. Sarutobi allowed a few moments for his soldiers to compose themselves before addressing them once more. "Anko?"

"A Kusa Genin was able to catch a kunai that I had thrown, and was able to release it _exactly on time_ when I used the Hebi style to reappropriate it."

"So what? Someone for once was able to see through your fancy moves and you get your panties in a knot?"

Anko glared at Hayate. "Do you want a reminder of what the Hebi style looks like exactly? From up close?" Seeing that he had quieted down, Anko continued. "Even worse, my seal acted up." There was a collective gasp that Anko cut into. "It wasn't anything significant -no pain, really- but it did act up when I was really near that Genin."

This time, it was Kakashi who was alarmed, going as far as to remove his nose from a colorful little book. "Your seal acted up?"

"Yeah. As I said, it was really subtle, so much that I almost missed it. It was only the shock of having someone react appropriately to the Hebi style that made me notice it."

And then, wonder of wonders, Kakashi put the book into his kunai holder without so much as a sigh. "How obvious was Orochimaru about his identity?"

"Not obvious at all. He scrambled his chakra signature so much that I didn't recognize it at all, and he only masked the scrambled chakra as well as a Genin would. In fact, his reserves seemed perfectly average for a Genin."

The Sandaime's right eye twitched twice. "It should be obvious that he is interested in some of the participants. I would suspect his targets to be the Sharingan in Uchiha Sasuke or the Byakugan in Hyuuga Hinata." The Hokage paused, stroking his beard. "Or he could also have his sights set on Hyuuga Neji, or the Kouton user from Kiri. Regardless of his intentions, they are unlikely to be beneficial to Konoha. Therefore, I would..." A gasp from Anko interrupted his speech. "Anko?"

"I just sensed _Jakai_ in the Forest." Seeing the blank stares from some of the assembled ninjas, Anko added: "_Jakai_ is the one holding the Snake Summoning Contract. Or at least, he was. This is bad news because _Jakai_ is -or was- a very important snake, one that Orochimaru wouldn't call upon if he was fooling around. I believe it's still the case, as Snakes rarely deviate from their positions once instated. Therefore, Orochimaru may have possibly located his target."

"Anko, take this tracker seal and keep it on your body. Go to the snake's location immediately; I'll send ANBU after you."

"Hai!" In a swirl of leaves, Orochimaru's erstwhile apprentice was gone.

"For those of you who wish to do so, all of you assembled in this hall, I will allow you to follow Anko. As you're well aware, your help will be valuable if Orochimaru is to be subdued. However, if you have students in the exam, I'm afraid I will discourage you to do so. Your participation will automatically disqualify your Genin teams."

Gai had one more concern to voice. "Hokage-sama, shouldn't we cancel the Chunin exams if Orochimaru is here?"

"That is a possibility I've considered. However, we're not quite certain what Orochimaru is plotting. He could simply be testing our defenses by infiltrating Konoha as a Genin, in which case it would be advantageous to simply observe him and modify our security measures as required. He could also wish to acquire _kekkei genkai_ by harming Genins. If this is the case, then we should stop him before he succeeds. However, if we do this by cancelling the exams, it would send a message of weakness to the other nations, some of which may start a war. After the _Kyuubi_ and the Uchiha massacre, we can't afford a war right now. Therefore, it would be best to quietly oust Orochimaru rather than simply planting surveillance or cancelling the entire exam. However, for the same reason, we can't afford to make actions such as allowing interference from Jonin-senseis go unpinished, which could be construed as warmongering. That is why I would encourage Jonin senseis to refrain from participating in the hunt, though I will still allow it. Is there anything else? No? In that case, you're free to go."

With a nod, several ninjas, including a few Jonin-senseis, disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

* * *

Orochimaru was annoyed. First that idiot _jinchuuriki_ detected him while he was trying to sneak around -a _Genin_ detecting a _Sannin_!- right before Orochimaru summoned the wrong snake. Then, that pink-haired gnat refused to be blown away by a _Fuuton: Daitoppa_. Of course, he'd been careless when he'd released his jutsu and hadn't poured nearly as much chakra as he could (and normally would) have. Still, the humiliation of it all itched incessantly, prodded him with needles of irritation. On the upside, though, the teamwork of Kakashi's squad wasn't nearly what he'd expected and as such, he still easily ensnared them both with his _Kanashibari_ in preparation to applying the cursed seal.

He sensed an erratic chakra coming at high speed before he could apply it on the Uchiha, however, and he let go of the precious seal. He also dropped the _Kanashibari_ from the Genins, shaking his head in disappointment until he observed their reactions. Whereas the kunoichi grabbed a kunai even as she collapsed on her branch, prepared for an attack despite her precarious perch, the Uchiha stood stock-still, his eyes still wide with fear. 'Hmm,' mused Orochimaru, 'perhaps he is even more unhinged than I thought. How lucky!' His thoughts were cut short by two simultaneous events: one was _Jakai_ dispelling, and the other was the grand entrance of his ex-apprentice crashing through the trees, snakes weaving out of her sleeves.

"Kukuku, Anko-kun, I see you're still as hasty as ever!" The taunt was delivered even as Orochimaru sank into the tree, impervious to the hissing reptiles launched fang-first towards his previous location.

Anko was oblivious to the ease with which Orochimaru slapped her attacks away. She instead threw an exploding tag to the tree branch while dispelling her summoned snakes even as she landed gracefully on the tree trunk, torso coiled like a snake. "Orochimaru! You'll pay for your crimes today!"

Orochimaru emerged right behind her, casually ducking below a furious kunai swipe aimed at decapitating him and lazily dodging the numerous follow-up jabs sprung from arms coiled to impossible positions even as the torso shifted unnaturally to accomodate the harsh demands of the style. While most would have been dazed by this onslaught, Orochimaru was the foremost practicioner of the Hebi style for a reason. Orochimaru grew bored with Anko's antics a few seconds into the dance and broke the pattern with a clockwise twist of his shoulders that rippled downwards until his left foot spun a full circle while his right foot lashed out at an inhuman speed, brushing the air nary a centimeter from Anko's nose when she stumbled backwards to avoid the blow.

The break was sufficient for Orochimaru to fly through a mind-boggling number of seals, stopping with the Tiger. Anko leapt away just in time to avoid the beginning of the _Mandara no Jin_, an innumerable number of snakes spewing forth from Orochimaru's mouth to form a net. It was fortunate that Anko had covered her retreat with a volley of shurikens, as Orochimaru was bluffing with the technique and had instead intended to kill her with a _Sen'eijashu_. When the explosive tag skillfully hidden on a few of the shurikens detonated, Orochimaru looked surprised before the blast reached him and exposed him as a mud-clone when Orochimaru's body dissembled into a mud pile.

"Damn it," muttered Anko as she searched her surroundings for Orochimaru, raising all of her senses as much as she could. Her paranoia paid off when she heard the barest shift in the wind behind her and ducked just in time to let Orochimaru's tongue pass safely above her. Or rather, the snake protruding from Orochimaru's gaping maw.

"More snake-based kinjutsu?" Anko scoffed derisively even as she completed the seals for the _Goukakyu_.

Orochimaru was surprised when fire burst in front of him: he'd expected another half-second (if that much) before she completed her jutsu. As it was, he was forced to leap into the air prematurely and drop his _Suiton_ jutsu -a weak _Mizurappa_, but sufficient to counter the fireball. Thus, still dazed by the early fireball, he was hit squarely in the face when a _Katon: Housenka_ emerged from behind the still-active fireball. Orochimaru cursed loudly as he wrenched the Kusa Genin's flaming face off his head. He was about to discard it haphazardly when he heard Kakashi's Genins gasp, and redirected his movement to throw it in their direction before promptly ignoring them once more.

After all, he still had countless more projectiles to dodge. Most ninjas would have been incinerated by the subsequent fiery missiles, but most ninjas were not Orochimaru. He simply twisted and bent his body out of the way as his mind raced along, weighing different hypotheses to fit the unusual attack pattern he'd been subjected to. Just as he landed, he finally figured out the double-fire jutsu: it must have been one of the ANBU supports Anko had undoubtedly requested. Orochimaru scoffed at the idea of asking third parties to join something as private as a teacher-apprentice reunion before he made short work of the masked pests: one _Kage Senbon Bunshin_ later, the newcomer and the three hidden interlopers were all disabled as snakes coming from the summoning seal inscribed along the weapons bit their necks.

"Tsk, tsk, Anko, I thought I'd taught you better manners than that!" Orochimaru raised a hand into a single-handed seal and fully activate the pain component on Anko's seal, yet her groans, when they came, seemed forced. Nonetheless, Orochimaru strutted up to her side and gloated above her. "Really, did you think I wouldn't have put safeguards? After , you know what comes with great power, don't you?"

Abruptly, Anko sprung up and nailed Orochimaru with a vicious uppercut, coiling her left arm around him when they descended from the collision. "Did you mean responsibility? Heh! That's one lesson I learned better than you did, you traitor!" When they both landed, Anko immediately nailed both herself as well as her opponent to the tree with a kunai. "Today, you'll die with me!"

"And how do you plan to do that? In case you haven't noticed, you've pinned yourself to me. Ah, how that reminds me of the good old days when you'd follow me around!"

"Hn! You fool! I know the only way I can make sure you die is by dying myself. Which is why I'm currently charging chakra into this little explosive seal I've written on my shoulder."

"Kukuku! Do you truly believe you can kill me with just one explosive seal? Me, Orochimaru?"

"Ah, but you see, it's a new design that ANBU developed just two years ago. And now it's too late: even if you could shunshin, your chakra would also fuel the explosion so you'd still get caught! In addition, the safety guard would open a time-delayed portal to an active _Soujasousai no Jutsu_ after the explosion is through, and your blood would be targeted."

Anko felt dread creep up her spine when Orochimaru smirked. And then blinding pain shot through her body, and she knew no more.

* * *

Sakura had been petrified when the Kusa kunoichi had glared at them and lowered one eyelid. She could literally see her own death, over and over again in excruatiating detail, and the fear of her death, the fear of the _pain_, was driving her crazy. The kunoichi's maniacal cackling didn't help much either, and neither did her predatory smile and piercing gaze. Yet even as Sakura was seized by fear, paralyzed into vulnerability, she could still see that her opponent merely immobilized her as an afterthought, as collateral damage while her attention was fixed solely on Sasuke. Unfortunately, neither she nor her teammate were able to move, both cowed by the tainted chakra of the Kusa Genin. And then, suddenly, the oppressive presence was gone and Sakura flopped down, hyperventilating.

By the time she regained her senses, she could see her Sasuke-kun scowling at the fight going on. Following his gaze, Sakura saw the crazy proctor and one ANBU engaging the Genin and, for the briefest of moments, was ashamed of her village for teaming up against a Genin from another village. Then she remembered just how powerful and cruel that Kusa-nin was, and stilled her protests. Instead, she observed how Anko used the cover of the ANBU's fireball to abandon the _Goukakyu_ she'd been preparing and started a familiar series of handseals instead. Sakura noted how the Kusa kunoichi was blindsided by the first of the five projectiles from the _Housenka_ yet managed to somehow peel her face off to remove the flames -peel her entire face!-, revealing a pale-skinned male instead.

There was something familiar about the face, as though she'd seen it somewhere before. Idly, Sakura's analytical mind started going over the various people she had met, and then when that failed to retrieve the required information, she started reviewing the numerous texts she'd read about famous ninjas even as her eyes followed the possibly-not-Kusa nin throw senbons that somehow erupted into snakes after the ANBU parried them. The ease with which he dispatched the ANBU was frightening: if the elite shinobi forces were unable to restrain him, just how far above Genin level was he?

It was then that Anko pinned herself and her opponent both to the tree and announced her suicidal method to remove this mysterious ninja. Clearly, they knew each other, if their conversation was any indication. Then, the foreign ninja dropped the bombshell: he was _Orochimaru_! The Snake of the Densetsu Sannin! A Sannin who obviously outmatched the proctor of the second test despite the latter's best efforts, as proven when Orochimaru _bit_ her in the neck. What was such an infamous missing-nin doing in the midst of the Chunin exams? What could he want with them? _Did_ he want anything to do with them?

Apparently so, as he now returned his gaze to the two Genins. "Kukuku! How nice of my prey to wait for me! Now, be still!" Accompanying the command was once again the dreadful _Kanashibari_ rooting Sakura and Sasuke to their feet. Yet Sasuke now seemed to twitch every so often. At first, it was a subtle twitch right above his left eyelid. And then, his mouth tipped up a corner before settling down once more. Then a slight tremor shook his right hand.

Orochimaru seemed to have noticed it too. "Kukuku! You're resisting my _Kanashibari_! Marvelous! Absolutely prodigious! Show me what you'll do; show me your power, your will! Show me the power of your eyes!" Three kunais were thrown to punctuate his statement: two were aimed at Sasuke and one at Sakura.

While Sakura was unable to move despite her frantic efforts, Sasuke's kunai-holding right hand inched towards his thigh and the Uchiha successfully broke out of the _Kanashibari_ using self-inflicted pain, much as Orochimaru predicted he would. However, by the time the Uchiha managed to push Sakura into safety, the Snake Sannin had finished his handseals and blew both Genins out of their perch with a fully-powered _Fuuton: Daitoppa_. Sasuke had by then managed to activate his Sharingan, and safely navigated their tumbling trajectory to land on his feet. The landing was abrupt enough to send Sakura off into the sweet embrace of sleep, and Sasuke set her gently on an adjacent branch even as he kept an eye on their opponent.  
His caution was well-placed: Orochimaru was disinclined to allow him any resting time and immediately set upon the Genin with a bevy of attacks.

First came a shower of assorted projectiles just before an acidic spew melted the tree that rested beneath Sasuke's location but an eyeblink ago. Frighteningly accurate _Housenka_ fireballs forced Sasuke to keep moving before he ran straight into a slew of senbons, each parried by a hastily retrieved kunai with the help of his Sharingan. However, even this effort yielded him no respite, as he then vaulted above a _Suiton: Mizurappa_ and thanked his training in the _Taka _taijutsu style when he used one of the odd twisting maneuvers to evade a windmill shuriken by the breadth of a hair, taking advantage of the motion to throw a kunai, followed by an explosive one trailing in the shadow of the first one.

Despite casually slapping away the first kunai and throwing the second one back at Sasuke, Orochimaru was rather pleased with this development. "Kukuku! Your Sharingan is quite useful indeed!" And indeed this seemed to be true: Sasuke managed to slip in several other attacks, timid though they may be. However, Orochimaru was one of the _Densetsu no Sannin_ and outclassed Sasuke by far, Sharingan or no. It would have been but child's play to end the fight at any given time, yet he'd restrained himself to high-Chunin grade sklls in order to test Sasuke's skills. Soon enough, the Sannin found the perfect opportunity: he let Sasuke ensnare a mud-clone to a tree and was rather impressed by the Genin's ingenuity when the latter managed to modify the _Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu_ in order to concentrate the jutsu along the wires.

The the mud-clone dissolved one moment later, and Sasuke whirled around lightly on his feet to scan his surroundings. Much to the Sannin's surprise, the Uchiha immediately narrowed his eyes when looking at the right direction. "I see you're able to see me already. Perhaps your eyes are even better than Itachi's were at your stage?" Sasuke's response was to simply fling more shurikens in Orochimaru's direction, much to the latter's delight. It seemed that swaying Sasuke would be an even easier task than he'd dared envision!

Upon this thought, Orochimaru was reminded of his original mission, the very one he hadn't dared delegate to Kabuto: he had yet to mark Sasuke. Once more focused on his goal now that his reservations about Sasuke's strength were addressed, Orochimaru tried another paralytic tactic with a combination of _Kanashibari_ and _genjutsu_. Sasuke proved to be susceptible to this combination, yet Orochimaru found himself delayed once again -this time by a rapidly approaching blond ball.

* * *

"Where _are_ they?" Naruto muttered to himself once more. Once he'd managed to dispatch that giant snake, he sped back to his team -or so he thought, until he saw naught but broken twigs and fallen leaves where he expected his teammates to be waiting for him. The trail was thankfully easy to follow, and Naruto bounded along a wide path of cleared branches in an otherwise dense foliage. Before long, however, Naruto found himself doubting his tracking skills: how could his teammates possibly leave such an obvious sign of their passage behind? Yet _something_ clearly hurtled across a straight line and Naruto was determined to find what it was.

By the time he reached the end of the trail, he found Sakura just starting to stir. "Hey, Sakura-chan! Are you alright? What happened?"

"Ugh... My head hurts. And Sasuke-kun... Sasuke-kun!"

"Sakura-chan! Calm down. What happened?"

"There was this Kusa Genin..."

"Wait! Was she the same one who handed Anko's kunai back to her?"

"Yes," answered a startled Sakura. "How did you guess?"

Naruto growled. "That... that..." Naruto took a moment to visibly compose himself. "She made a snake eat me, but I managed to kill the snake. I took off as soon as I could to come back here, but..."

"I see. Anyways, that Kusa Genin turned out to be Orochimaru of the _Densetsu Sannin_, and for some reason he keeps attacking Sasuke."

"Where is Sasuke?"

"I don't know! We have to find him; he could be in trouble! He's no match against any of the Sannin!"

"Let's find him."

And with that, the two Genins set off in pursuit of an opponent far above their abilities, in a suicidal dash to save their teammate.

"Ah, Naruto-kun! So nice of you to join us." Even though his tone was jovial and his smile genial, Orochimaru was seething. How dare these insects interrupt him time and again! Nevertheless, he couldn't afford to fool around while applying his cursed seal. Thus, Naruto would have to be properly restrained. Thinking about this problem, Orochimaru wondered: how did Naruto manage to escape from his snake? Well, no matter; Orochimaru would take care of him and his badly camouflaged teammate now, before he could get even more bothersome pests on his trail. "Here, have a kunai!" Immediately, Sakura was forced out of hiding while seeking sanctuary in another bush.

Naruto, on the other hand, barely dodged the weapon, feeling the wind from its trail as it whizzed with naught but a millimeter to spare. The blond was denied the time to give into his fear as a relentless onslaught of attacks kept him performing wild acrobatics to stay just a fraction of a step ahead of the life-threatening attacks surging all around him. Unfortunately, he was neither as graceful as the Uchiha or as limber as Sakura. Though none of the attacks were life-threatening or even crippling, he still ended up with an impressive collection of cuts and scrapes on his body seconds into the fight. When the offensive seemed to dwindle down, Naruto's first instinct was to leap at his opponent. After all, the Academy had repeated oft times enough that even Naruto knew what the best defense would be.

Kakashi, however, was a much more effective teacher than any Academy instructor could possibly achieve, and had insisted that his Genin think as ninjas rather than mindless drones regurgitating information without understanding it. Therefore, it was no surprise that Naruto's immediate response ran contrary to his urges and instead queried the welfare of his teammate. This was quite fortunate for Sakura, as she was starting to falter under Orochimaru's continuous stream of projectiles. Where Orochimaru found the time to pepper his teammate with a barrage of deadly fireballs, kunai and acidic spews while keeping the blond occupied Naruto would never know. All that mattered, however, was his teammate's welfare, and Orochimaru's slip in relenting on his assault against Naruto, if only for a moment.

Naruto was tired and injured, yet he pushed Sakura out of the way in time, the jolt once more sufficient to knock out the weary girl. Naruto felt guilty with his rough handling of the situation, yet self-recrimination soon morphed into something far uglier as he took in his surroundings. One teammate had fallen out of the fight from exhaustion and the other was _frightened_ to uselessness, to a quivering heap as helpless as Academy shuriken targets. And then Orochimaru smirked.

The Sannin smirked at Naruto, gleeful at the mayhem he'd caused, rejoicing in the suffering of others, goading Naruto to attack. Naruto had had enough. As happened before when Mizuki had critically injured Iruka, Naruto's determination and rage burned into a white-hot inferno and he drew strength from deep within himself, from the very core of his being. He subconsciously tightened both his stance and his chakra until he was a coiled spring, a drawn bow, a weapon focused and deadly. Orochimaru could see the glint in the boy's eyes and should have been warned, yet the Sannin mistook it for common rage.

"Kukuku! Don't tell me you're angry; they're just burdens, after all!"

"Shut up, hebi-teme!"

And then Naruto was gone from his branch, with Orochimaru surprised to only barely scramble off from his seat on the tree trunk in time to see it explode in a shower of splintered wood. The Sannin was then forced to dodge a kick, and a kunai thrust (when exactly did the brat manage to take a kunai?), and then a right hook followed by a roundhouse kick only to find the original kunai sailing straight toward his head. By the time he managed to regain a modicum of his composure, there were five copies of Naruto surrounding him. However, his intelligence reported that Naruto should be able to easily summon at least five times as many clones without suffering any considerable chakra loss. Orochimaru therefore knew that there was a trap waiting for him, courtesy of the damnable blond.

But he was left without the opportunity to analyze the situation more deeply, as the clones started engaging him in _taijutsu_. A Genin holding his own against a Sannin in straight-up _taijutsu_! How did the idiot manage to bump up his speed this much? It was unheard of! Yet here he was, facing a foe with speed that would have stumped Orochimaru had the blond's skills been any better. Fortunately, he dispatched all five clones within a few minutes, though he was left wary of the blond's next move. After all, that was only five clones -five!

Orochimaru decided that he had to stop fooling around: Naruto was suddenly proving himself a much better foe than anticipated. Though the _Kyuubi_'s power was still left undetectable, perhaps its presence had skewed matters even further than Orochimaru generous error margins had allowed. As such, it would only be fitting to knock out the brat by the very source of his ill-gotten strength, concluded Orochimaru. He prepared the _Gogyou Fuuin_ while waiting for Naruto to unveil his latest scheme, all the while releasing his full power into this disgustingly weak female body. Such an action may shorten the life-span of his current host, but he would _not_ be defeated by a Genin, _jinchuuriki_ or not. Fate must have been smiling at Orochimaru, as his fully-awakened senses indicated the location of the brat, who was molding an absurd quantity of chakra -it was already almost at Orochimaru's top capacity, and the jutsu's power was still growing!

The Sannin darted about in the trees post-haste, careful to conceal his presence even as he left a mud clone as a decoy. After he snuck behind the brat, he lengthened his arms thanks to a _kinjutsu_ developed through experimentation conducted under the very nose of his sensei and surprised the brat by lightly slapping his stomach with glowing fingers. The effect was immediate and Orochimaru smirked when Naruto fell to his knees screaming in pain. The kid may not have been drawing entirely on the _Kyuubi_'s chakra, but that seal would still filter out all impurities in chakra and thereby cause wild fluctuations in both quality and quantity. In the case of someone with Naruto's raw chakra potential, such fluctuations should be sufficient to render one unconscious.

'Ah,' thougth Orochimaru, 'finally.' Indeed, Naruto had succumbed to the combination of excruciating pain and bucking surges of chakra after a long struggle against the rising darkness. Orochimaru then turned to Sasuke, who had dispelled the combination of _Kanashibari_ and _genjutsu_ sometime during the Sannin's fight with Naruto.

"Kukuku, dear Sasuke-kun, you are quite surprising indeed. It's not easy to shrug off _Kanashibari_ and_ Kokuangyo no Jutsu_ at the same time. I've left Anko with a special gift, Naruto with the means to train his chakra control and at the same time increase his chakra pool. But for you, I have something special in mind: I'm going to give you power, more power than you can comprehend. And when you'll need even more than what I'm about to give you, you'll come to me and I'll give you enough to kill anyone, even your brother." Sasuke was stunned for the entire duration of an eyeblink, yet that moment was sufficient for Orochimaru. He cast his _Sen'eijashu_ to bind a now-squirming Sasuke and called forth the delicate construct. Once everything was in place, Orochimaru bit Sasuke on the latter's neck. The Uchiha whimpered at the pain before he collapsed, joining his teammates in their defeat.

Before departing, Orochimaru considered his words once more. He had given gifts to Anko, Naruto and Sasuke, yet none for the last remaining Genin of Team Seven. Perhaps he might as well attempt to collect the entire squad rather than only the Uchiha. There was a snag, though: what could he possibly offer that Kakashi wouldn't, or couldn't? There wasn't much time as the Jonins were now fast approaching their position despite the numerous summon snakes Orochimaru had called forth from the earlier _Kage Senbon Bunshin_, yet however hurried the choice may be, it still had to be relevant to Sakura. 'Ah,' thought Orochimaru, 'I could give her _those_.' Biting his forefinger hard enough to draw blood, the Sannin proceeded to draw some seals on her left forearm to allow her to bend light around herself, effectively hiding her from sight provided there were no high-speed movements involved. In addition, the seal could act as an emergency chakra battery, which, given her mediocre reserves, would be a much-needed enhacement. Orochimaru then drew another seal on her right forearm, this one providing a sealless way to cast some high-level _genjutsus_, including the _Kokuangyo no Jutsu_ and the _Magen: Jubaku Satsu_. Sensing his time as a Kusa Genin was quickly drawing to a close, Orochimaru formed the Ram seal before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

* * *

The Jonins were getting antsy. A moment ago, they had collected an unresponsive and clearly suffering Anko, marked with a second cursed seal right before they saw Kakashi's team sprawled out on branches, unable to move. They were faced with a dilemma: should they leave the Genins as they were and risk their lives, or should they provide help and disqualify the team? It was Hayate who noted that Kakashi hadn't deemed it necessary to provide help despite knowing Sasuke to be a probable target. The assembled ninja would abide by Kakashi's implicit instruction: so long as Team Seven had a chance to go through to the next round, they would be allowed to take that chance. Thus, they were left following the chakra trail of a _Shunshin_, which should have been an easy task. However, Orochimaru somehow managed to split the trail in five and none of the destinations bore any signs of his passage.

* * *

Sakura awoke to see a ninja hovering over her. Her fist shot up by reflex even before she could identify the color of the sky, meeting soundly with the intruder's head. By the time the pink-haired Genin was fully cognisant of her surroundings, she witnessed Kabuto flying backwards before regaining his bearings and flipping back to land lightly on his feet. Sakura leapt up, just as nimble as Kabuto, and retrieved her kunai in one smooth motion, ready for both defense and offense.

"Kabuto. What do you want?"

"Ah, Sakura-san, was it?" Without waiting for a response, Kabuto continued, "I was separated from my group when I saw signs of battle. I'm a medic-nin, remember? I had just finished doing what I could for Sasuke and was about to move on to you. It seems you don't need my help however, if I'm to trust that punch. If you don't mind, I'll be checking Naruto."

"Why would you help us? What's in it for you?"

"We're all comrades of the Leaf, are we not? That's reason enough for me. You may not know it, but we'll be facing one another in single combat for the finals. Having seen what some of the other teams can do, I've decided not to participate and try my luck next time. My teammates are still going in, though, so I'm doing the best I can to ensure their survival. All that I ask is that we Konoha Genins refrain from causing permanent damage to each other. Is that reasonable enough?"

Sakura scrutinized Kabuto for a long while. Something was off about the Genin, and her instincts wouldn't let her drop her guard. Kabuto still appeared as earnest as ever. Tense moments later, Sakura conceded Kabuto's point as a valid one. "I guess the other teams do look rather intimidating. Fair enough, I guess. Not like I have the energy to fight you and your teammates right now, in any case."

"I'm alone right now, so you don't have to worry about my teammates for the moment. By the way, is that a seal that you have on your forearms?"

"Huh?" After Sakura looked at her skin, she answered, "I guess so. But I have no clue when they got there. I... guess someone could have done that while I was unconscious. Hopefully it's not something bad."

"I'm not too well versed in _F__uuinjutsu_, but they don't look harmful to me." After snorting at the thought, Kabuto added, "Then again, what do I know? Although it probably would be a good idea to heal the wounds caused by the inscription of the seal. If you'll allow me?"

"Yes, that'd be nice. Thank you."

Kabuto spent his time making sure the wounds were properly closed before moving on to Naruto and extended his palm to cover Naruto's body, a now-familiar green glow enveloping his hands. The medic-nin concentrated and frowned almost immediately. "Does Naruto have trouble with chakra control?"

"I know he had the hardest time of all of us to learn chakra control. Why? Is there anything wrong?"

"It's just that his chakra is spiking up irregularly. Everyone does that when they're sleeping," Kabuto added, preempting Sakura's question, "but most are just like small waves in a pond. When I get from him is more like... I guess it would be like a lit fuse with explosive tags tied randomly around the fuse." Kabuto raised his head to smile uneasily at Sakura. "I'm not sure if that helped, actually. Other than those weird chakra surges, there's nothing much I could do for him."

"So what do you think I should do?"

"What I would do in your situation is to find a safe place to sleep and guard your teammates. I wouldn't trust my usual abilities if I've had some unknown seals written on me by a potentially belligerent party and both teammates are unconscious. The Uchiha -Sasuke, if I recall correctly- has also had a seal written on him, though his chakra pathways seem normal to me. His coils have been rather forcibly enlarged for a fresh Genin, and his stores currently depleted, but his chakra pathways are otherwise normal. I'd guess he fought your opponent the hardest, right?" Seeing Sakura nod, Kabuto resumed his analysis. "Then he should be fine after some rest, as far as I can tell.

"Naruto also seems normal, though his chakra is fluctuating very wildly. He may have troubles with control, or he may not -again, I'm not quite sure what is normal for him. Perhaps the attacker has done something to him, or perhaps he just over exerted himself and temporarily depleted his reserves, which is possible if he's normally that inconsistent with his chakra. In any case, both of your teammates should be fine after resting, so I think that's what you should do. Is there anything else I can help you with? No? Well, then, I'm afraid I have to go meet my own teammates."

"Oh, right. I hope we didn't cause you trouble with your teammates!"

"Nah, it's alright. I'm just a bit late. Ja ne!"

Sakura reviewed Kabuto's analysis as the latter leapt away and found it sound. She was currently dealing with multiple unknown factors, including the seals inscribed on her own forearms. Her first goal would be finding an easily defensible shelter; even if she was reluctant to accept help and advice from the suspicious Genin, it was her only choice at the moment. Therefore, Sakura started lugging her teammates about, silently grumbling about their weight all the while. She was surprised to soon find an abandoned cave with sparse enough vegetation that she would be able to anticipate incoming attacks yet dense enough to properly hide snares all around the location.

The pink-haired Genin retrieved both her own as well as her teammates' equipment to set the trap. For once, she was happy that Naruto constantly kept the necessary components for setting pranks available ever since he'd set the trap for Kakashi on their first meeting. Sakura used one spool of chakra-reactive wire to rig the environment such that even _genjutsu_ wouldn't hide incoming Genins from the poison-tipped senbon set on the far perimeter of their location. Around mid-way from the outer perimeter, Sakura interspersed the remaining senbon with kunais tagged with explosive seals. With the vegetation around, that distance was at about the edge of the audible range likely to wake up Sakura if she were sleeping in the cave. As she progressed even nearer the camp site, Sakura was once more thankful for Naruto's near-inexhaustible supply of spool, as she started setting up more traps. By the time she travelled back to her teammates' side, she was exhausted.

* * *

The _Kyuubi_, a demon of pure chakra, scourge of the world ever since its creation, the most powerful of all nine _bijuu_; the _Kyuubi_ was confused. It had picked up the main thread of the fight through Naruto's subconscious, even if the details were a smudge fuzzy, just as it had dutifully made sure that Naruto didn't need any healing, ready to send out waves of chakra as soon as possible. However, all injuries were minor, and even despite the massive excess sent out the _Kyuubi_ was left to sit on its haunches. Yet, suddenly, glowing chakra somehow pierced in from all around to react with the bars of the _Kyuubi_'s prison and the very foundation of Naruto's chakra-scape. The earth bucked and heaved as a wild horse rejecting a saddle, the air blew blistering cold and scalding hot and ocean-wet and bone-dry all at once, and then everything grew white and even whiter until it muted all sound and all that was left was blinding blackness.

By the time everything settled down, the solid rock foundation that even the _Kyuubi_ commended for its unshakable firmness, the very floor of Naruto's chakrascape was in constant turmoil, rippling like waves in the ocean, the walls rising and falling constantly to reveal more of the damnable bars holding the _Kyuubi _hitherto hidden within the cavern walls, and the ceiling itself shimmered like autumn leaves in a brisk wind. The most notable difference, however, was the addition of five columns of chakra: five solid constructs that spanned from the malleable ground up beyond even the _Kyuubi_'s keen vision. The _Bijuu_ knew that no mere human could ever hope to match it in sheer, raw power, yet even it was awed by the sight. As an experiment, the _Kyuubi_ sent out tendrils of its demonic chakra out to heal the wounds Naruto certainly had to have sustained in order to accomodate these intrusions into his chakra pathway, and to its surprise, the entire mass of energy seeped across the bars. Just as the demon was about to celebrate, however, the five pillars darkened and power transcending even that of the _Kyuubi_'s gathered before suddenly flinging the demonic chakra back to the _Kyuubi_, the backlash harsh enough to cow even one of its might.

However, instead of whimpering at the unexpected pain, the _Kyuubi_ smirked. The bars were visibly scratched by the backlash and whereas the _Kyuubi_ would heal its wounds, the bars would not.

* * *

Around midnight, Sakura was shaken awake by the rumblings of multiple explosions. Much to her dismay, the incoming party was barely fazed, if the continued progression of thumps was any indication. She had barely started to recover the chakra she had lost during the fight, and her trek through the forest with two unconscious teammates as luggage certainly did not help in relieving her fatigue. Even under normal circumstances, she would be a liability in a straight fight against enemy ninjas, as the role Kakashi had given her within Team Seven was that of support. Holding the enemy at bay without her teammates to deliver a mid-range finishing attack would be useless in this case. She could always rely on the ninja basics, which Kakashi did force on them, though she doubted their worth against a full team of ninjas. Nevertheless, she _would_ have to suffice in confronting the other Genin team or teams: she was the last line of defense for her teammates. Hopefully, they wouldn't be quite as strong as Orochimaru.

'Tcha!' enthused her Inner Sakura. 'As if they could match a Sannin!' With a smirk, Sakura acknowledged the point. If her teammates could survive Orochimaru's onslaught, surely she could hold her own against true Genins.

Yet seconds later, Sakura found her resolve waning in the wake of trees collapsing like a house of cards -trees as large as her room in diameter and that seemed positively monstrous mere moments ago toppled like dominoes. Nonetheless, she could not afford to desert her teammates in their time of need. If these Genins (or were they?) came through to the cave despite the barrage of projectiles, surely they knew there were Genins inside the shelter. Evading the incoming party may save her own life, though the price of her teammates was too steep. Thus, Sakura now stood her ground, stubbornly entrenching her feet in the soil. She may be overpowered, but at least she'd give her teammates more time to recover.

And then the assailants came into view. Sakura could identify the opponents as Oto ninjas -in fact, the very same who had attacked Kabuto before the first test. Sakura recalled how one of the group had hurt Kabuto, despite his punch swaying wildly from the intended target. He had also implied that their abilities were all based on sound, which would make sense given Kabuto's punctured eardrums. Therefore, she'd have to stay on the lookout for unconventional attacks such as that one. If she were to avoid falling in the same state as Kabuto did, she'd have to make sure that she avoided punches completely. A plan of action to neutralize that particular Genin soon formed in her mind, though she would still have to account for his teammates.

The other male had carelessly displayed his abilities when approaching the camp -a rush of sound strong enough to knock down trees erupted from the apertures in his palms, by her analysis. He could be presumably defeated using _Katon_ jutsu, given the strong similarity between his ability and _Fuuton_ jutsus. Though Sakura had seen quite an arsenal of fire jutsus by this point, how well Sakura's meager _Goukakyu_ would roar against with the strong winds was a source of worry that would have to be dealt with, and soon. Assuming Sakura could manage to either bluff or burn her way through, the sole remaining target would be the female of the Oto team. The kunoichi remained a mystery to Sakura. Hopefully, both males could be quickly defeated before Sakura had to deal with the remaining Oto Genin. From the way her fists were bunched, Sakura could guess that she held senbons, though how senbons related to sound was still a mystery to the pink-haired Genin. Nonetheless, if she could remove both of her teammates from the equation, it would considerably increase her chance.

Sakura carefully settled into a defensive stance. For her plan to work, it was imperative that the ninja with the sonic-disruptor contraption on his forearms attack first. Fortune smiled on Sakura: it seemed he had a rather short fuse and even shorter leash on his behavior.

"Hey, girlie, call out the Uchiha. We wanna play with him!"

"Really? You don't look old enough to even play in his sandbox. To tell the truth, Sasuke wouldn't bother playing with you even if I went to ask him. If you really want to play, though, I guess I might be willing. That is, if you ask nicely."

"Why, you!" Enraged, the Oto Genin almost leapt at Sakura before his teammates forcibly restrained him.

"Calm down, Dosu! It's obvious she wants you enraged."

"Tcha! As if I'd need a handicap when facing a weakling like him."

Dosu, who had slowed his struggling against his teammates, now shrugged off his teammates to stampede toward Sakura, snarling and nearly frothing at the mouth. He wouldn't let anyone call him weak and was prepared to make the pink-haired kunoichi pay for it! Which would have been the case, had he not completely misjudged Sakura's movements at the last minute. Somehow, it seemed that she moved to deflect the blow and suffer the sonic trail of his weapon before suddenly appearing inside his guard, a kunai in her hand. While a frantic whirl managed to prevent damage to internal organs, the kunai still grazed his skin, and that was sufficient for Sakura.

Before Dosu had fallen from the poison Sakura had coated over the kunai while exchanging barbs with Dosu, the pink-haired Genin had already initialized her calculated sequence and raced through the seven handseals for the _Goukakyu. _Whereas Sakura dispatched Dosu using a simple Academy Jutsu coupled with Genin-level technology, Sakura needed something far more substantial to reach the other shinobi and she was desperate enough to rely on the _Goukakyu_. Sasuke could easily throw fireball left and right as easily as he would kunais and thus Sakura learned something of the technique behind the jutsu, though Sakura's meager reserves would only allow sickly fireballs that invariably winked out of existence at the first challenge.

Yet with so much on the line, Sakura grit her teeth and settled into a strong stance. Even if she knew how weak her _Goukakyu_ was, perhaps her enemy might prove too cautious to verify the actual strength of the jutsu. Thus, Sakura slipped in another kunai in-between her palms just before she raised her index and middle finger to her lips. She compressed all the chakra in her lungs to the air they held, and sent the rest of her chakra into her fingers, attempting to generate as much fire as she could. Sakura closed her eyes in anticipation of her failure before she blotted the thought out. Now was not the time for failure, not even in thought! She focused all of her mind into visualizing a roaring fireball. And then, when she imagine a fireball emerging from her fingers, Sakura released the air in her lungs with a puff and all her pent-up chakra in a spark springing from her right hand, feeling the recoil from the strain all the way down to her elbow. Much to her amazement, from her fingers sailed forth a fireball, a roaring, wreathing mass of plasma as furious and intimidating as she'd imagined. Sakura was so shocked that she almost forgot to throw her kunai in the trail of the _Goukakyu_.

While the ninja failed to associate the imminent danger of countering a fire jutsu as powerful as the _Goukakyu_ with his sound blasts, his teammate quickly diverted his arms to the side to prevent a foolish action, thus vindicating Sakura's analysis. To her surprise, however, the few stray sound blasts that collided with the fireball did not fan the flames, but rather elicited a weak puff, one that Sakura had learned to associate with the dissipation of her attempts at performing the _Goukakyu no Jutsu_, even as the fireball marched straight forward to its target. However, instead of exploding in a shower of flames licking everything in its path, the roaring ball simply passed through the Oto ninja without causing any harm.

'A _genjutsu_?' wondered Sakura. Just as she was about to panic, however, the kunai flying in the shadow of the illusionary fire travelled forward. Whereas the weak flames of the true fire had been extinguished by stray winds, the kunai was merely sent on a tumbling path, one that ended with a collision between the blunt end of the kunai and the ninja's head. Instead of incapacitating her opponent by either incineration or unnamed puncture wounds, the kunai knocked her much more powerful opponent cleanly out of consciousness. If the situation hadn't been so stressful, Sakura might have laughed at the irony of it.

The sole remaining Oto ninja, however, was not impressed. "You know, my teammates were rather foolish. I'll admit that I'm weaker than they are, but you'll find me a much more difficult opponent. I won't be underestimating you as they did, now that I know what you can do."

"Tcha! You think that I've showed you my true abilities? You'd be the foolish one if you truly believed that."

"It's no use denying it, as I've already seen through your deception: your trump card is your tactical use of _genjutsu_. There's no way you could have maintained a fireball while throwing a kunai. Hmph! I'm not sure if Zaku saw through the ruse or if he was just being pig-headed, attacking a fire with a sound blast. After all, he must have seen that you used _genjutsu_ to defeat Dosu as well."

Sakura nearly winced at kunoichi's analysis: even if some of her assumptions were off, the main points remained correct. However, as Sakura started to panic, she realized that her reaction must have been her opponent's intention, as it would better serve her purpose if she were to attack straight-on rather than divulging her knowledge. Thus, Sakura knew that this kunoichi was indeed more dangerous than her teammates, as she clearly had a plan of attack, one starting with a psychological taunt. Her knee-jerk reaction was to derail her opponent's plan by attacking immediately, though she stayed her hand even before a fist was formed. Talking might play into her opponent's scheme, but it would also gain recovery time for her teammates. This was far more important to her than the dubious advantage of first attack, especially when the opponent might be expecting it. "That's only partially true. My trump card isn't quite _genjutsu_, for instance. Would you care to try again?"

"It matter not what your trump card really is. You're clearly used to constraining opponents, probably with your teammates providing the final blow. Even if you do have other methods, which I highly doubt, they'll still be delaying or at best temporary handicapping methods. I, on the other hand, have a much more complete arsenal at my disposal."

"Well, good for you. I'm afraid, though, that you'll discover me with slightly more at my disposal than simple _genjutsu_ or other containment techniques."

In truth, Sakura had also been slowly considering an uncommon maneuver. If she could get close enough, she might be able to get in one chakra-enhanced punch, and if she were to release the chakra all at once as Tsunade had done, the results would be devastating. If Naruto or even Sasuke were to attempt this maneuver, they were as likely to hurt themselves as the opponent from their inability to properly direct the chakra release. They would therefore favor focusing the chakra to enhance speed rather than impact. Sakura's meager reserves, on the other hand, would not enhance speed to any significant degree, though her control would allow a much more directed impact. Her lack of field trials with this maneuver was a worry, though: the only she'd ever manipulated chakra in a similar manner was when bashing Naruto's head. Sakura nonetheless proceeded with her preparations despite these shortcomings, as the results should be well worth it if she could achieve even a tenth of Tsunade's prodigious strength through this method.

The first step, one that even books detailed, was collecting chakra near the impact area yet far enough to allow for acceleration. Tsunade was known to activate the jutsu instantly. Sakura however lacked both the reserves as well as the experience to do so. She therefore compensated by pooling chakra into her forearm long before the blow was thrown, pushing as much as she could without letting the strain show on her face.

It seemed that however much she had collected would have to suffice, as the Oto Genin now tightened her fists, light glinting off the senbons clenched between her knuckles. Sakura was upon her in an eyeblink, leading with a kunai in her right hand. As expected, the Oto kunoichi evaded to Sakura's right, in just the right place for Sakura to follow through her motion by launching a reverse-kick with her left foot. Sakura's opponent ducked the kick, just as Sakura had hoped. It was then that the Oto ninja smirked, and Sakura's carefully planned offensive unraveled. The Oto Genin flicked open her palm and Sakura twisted to the side to avoid senbons, only to notice that they had never been thrown. And the world spun out of control.

Sakura was vaguely aware of the kunoichi -Kin, by her speech- gloating over Sakura, pompously relating how Oto would become greater than Leaf, the supposedly greatest of the Five Elemental Nations, and how she would beat the last Uchiha even if Sasuke had awakened the legendary Sharingan, and how the leader of Oto would become revered as the very first Otokage. With most opponents, such gloating would have been safe, if on the wasteful side. However, the chakra Sakura had concentrated in her hand now seeped into the seal, and Sakura could feel that the chakra had somehow not dissipated. Once she was accustomed enough to move her limbs, Sakura struck the ground with all of the pent-up chakra released in a focused burst. The results were devastating.

Trees were uprooted and Kin stumbled as the very earth beneath her groaned and churned open, falling face-first into the crater Sakura created and losing her senbons in the process. Immediately, Sakura was on her, launching a slew of kunai that kept her dodging left and right, unwilling to let Kin disorient her once more. Unfortunately, her experiment with exploding-chakra punches also had an unexpected side-effect: it woke Zaku from his slumber. The latter took advantage of Sakura's inattention to slip behind her and charge up his most intense blast of sound yet. When it was ready, he nodded to Kin, who nimbly cartwheeled away from a trio of shurikens right before Zaku unleashed his attack.

"Zankuha!"

* * *

Author's note: A big "thank you" to all the reviewers, even if I don't respond to them (especially Salamander Hanzo, to whom I haven't responded yet despite having posted an entertaining yet puzzling poem as a review for Chapter 8/9). Once again, if you have criticisms, please feel free to share them with me. I might disagree or I might not, but I can assure you that I won't be offended.


	11. Ch10 Chunin Exams, Second Test Pt II

Naruto had never experienced such pain in his life. Even his birthdays as a young child, even those agonizing moments that happened when he was inevitably caught by the mob- even the worse beatings he'd ever endured paled in comparison with the liquid fire that seeped from Orochimaru's fingers straight into the very center of his chakra system, into his hara. From there, it invaded Naruto's entire body like a metastasizing cancer, incandescent, blinding pain surging everywhere, spreading through his chakra coils like water filling a plumbing system. Soon enough, less than a heartbeat yet an eternity of torment later, his nociceptors flooded his brain with too many signals, and Naruto fell down, unconscious.

And then, the Earth rumbled, and the pain wasn't quite so overwhelming anymore. Instead of a screeching cacophony, the torture had receded to the buzz of a dissonant rumble resonating throughout his body, a state that Naruto had learned to cope with and, eventually, managed to ignore altogether. As such, he was able to get up without stumbling on the spinning ground (or was it his head that spun?) and take a look around him. Someone had taken the time to find a defensible location, it seemed, as well as to look after his comfort. It was when he prepared to discreetly scout his location that he noticed Sasuke, almost tripping over the prone body of his teammate. Sasuke, too, had been covered with a blanket, and water and rations were placed well within reach. Since Sakura was currently missing, she was presumably the one who had taken care of both of them, and Naruto was ashamed to have become a burden. But then he remembered the current situation, and stamped down his feelings in favor of analyzing the current situation.

Sakura must have been out fighting whatever had caused the earth to rumble ominously, realized Naruto with a start. Promptly forgetting to check for Sasuke's status, Naruto darted across the few steps separating him from the mouth of the cave, his stealth entirely the byproduct instinct from years of evading ninjas and civilians alike as his mind occupied itself with gathering what information he could from the clues left about. By the time a mop of blond hair peeked outside, Naruto had already formed the Rooster seal and was actively thinning out his chakra in the atmosphere. Both senses relayed the same situation: Sakura was facing two Oto Genins about twenty meters away, the droop of her shoulders indicative of her fast-waning stamina. What was worse was that one enemy had managed to sneak into Sakura's blind area, forcibly gathering chakra to knock her out at once.

Naruto found himself forming the seals for the _Repputoppa_ before he had properly analyzed the situation, but fortunately he regained his composure before he launched the jutsu. The _Repputoppa_ was indeed likely to knock the jutsu off course, yet it would continue on a straight path should it fail to hit, and Sakura would become the target should Naruto fail to swerve the attack in time. No, the _Repputoppa_ would not be appropriate for this situation. Instead, Naruto wisely decided to start another sequence of seals. There was no margin for errors and thus the blond kept a sedate pace, yet the urgency of the situation was such that he sweated even as he concentrated on molding his chakra as perfectly as he could. By the time he reached the final Rooster seal nary a second later, it seemed an eternity had already passed. Fortunately, the Oto ninja still hadn't released his own attack, allowing Naruto to thin out his chakra even more before he aimed his _Kaze no Teisei_, careful to leave Sakura out of the path should it fail to reach its target.

The next second ensued into mayhem. Just as Naruto started releasing his _Fuuton_ jutsu, the Oto Genin released his own attack with a shout of "Zankuha". Naruto could feel the attack vibrating in his ears through the chakra field, only the repeated puncture of his eardrums from his training preventing damage from the current abuse. Sakura turned and started darting out of the way, but Naruto could tell that the _Zankuha _was broad enough to still injure her grievously despite her efforts. Without thinking about the consequences or even the feasibility of this action, Naruto split a tiny fraction of his _Kaze no Teisei_ into a fast-moving wind that outpaced the sonic blast of the _Zankuha_, reaching Sakura and lightly propelling her out of the way with as weak a wisp of wind as he could manage. However, Sakura was still sent barrelling away. Thankfully, the nearest tree was far away enough for Sakura to regain her bearings and land lightly with both feet stuck to the tree trunk.

The bulk of the original wind was however disturbed by this action and instead of heading straight on its original path, the various strands of wind collided with each other, grinding into one another until it was a jumbled, mangled tangle of chaotic winds that struck the Genin on his shoulder, tearing through muscle and bone without encountering any significant resistance. Naruto saw the gory results of his wind and was sickened by himself. What had he done? He knew the _Kaze no Teisei_ was powerful enough to demolish stones and trees, yet those had always been the result of brunt-force attacks or the occasional clean slices, not the grating, shredding action he'd just witnessed.

Naruto would have retched right in the middle of a battle were it not for the movement from Sakura's other assailant just before the attack ended: Naruto could feel the senbons reaching towards Sakura, and even through the waning sensor field the bells attached to the senbons were sufficient to cause dizziness in Naruto. Since Naruto was accustomed to much worse from his work on the _Kaze no Teisei_, the blond was able to simply shrug off the effects and concentrate on his task. Naruto was about to turn to the foreign kunoichi when he remembered that Sakura did not have his immunity to dizziness. Naruto immediately raced through the seals for the _Repputoppa_ before he even completed his thought, and managed to push the senbons out of the way before they could affect Sakura.

Needless to mention, the Oto kunoichi was not amused. "A _Fuuton_ user? Zaku! He's yours. I'll deal with the girl, then we'll go see how long we can make the Uchiha squeal like a pig."

Truth be told, Naruto had forgotten about Zaku, the one whose arm he had mangled. Thanks to the kunoichi's warning, though, he turned in time to see Zaku aim a palm at him. The first method that Naruto thought of was once more the _Kaze no Teisei_, though he ruthlessly discarded the idea. The last time he had tried it, he had permanently damaged the boy's ninja career.

The only other useful jutsus that Naruto knew were the _Kawarimi_, the _Repputoppa_ and the _Kage Bunshin_. A quick analysis later, Naruto created a modest contingent of clones between himself and Zaku, as well as ten in the periphery for emergency _Kawarimi_. All of his precautions turned out to be superfluous when Zaku only injured himself when trying a one-handed Zankuha. The recoil through his system would have normally forced the air out the other arm, but in this occasion it instead blasted out the bloody stump that was still connected to his body. Zaku was knocked unconscious from the pain.

Sakura was tactically minded enough to recognize the opportunity a fallen teammate represented for them. "Do you really want to keep on fighting? If we stop now, you could still save your teammate."

The Oto kunoichi gnawed her lower lip as she considered her options. A moment later, she bowed her head and retrieved both of her teammates, one hanging from each shoulder. As she was about to leave, Sakura called out: "What scroll do you have?"

The kunoichi never stopped her stride, making Sakura wonder whether they had just wasted an opportunity to acquire a Heaven scroll. However, the Oto kunoichi paused three branch-hops later and tossed their scroll above her shoulder even as she called back: "Earth."

Turning to Naruto, Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "Oh well, guess having one more won't hurt. How's Sasuke-kun?"

"The teme was still sleeping when I last saw him."

"And how about you? What happened to you?"

"Orochimaru did some weird stuff on my stomach. It really hurt, too!"

"And now?"

"Now? I'm... not sure. I think there's something wrong with my chakra. Like when I pushed you out of the way of that nasty Zankuha, I didn't mean it to be that strong. Gomen."

"Naruto?"

"It was supposed to just push you out of the way, not hit you hard enough to bruise. And Zaku wasn't supposed to lose his arm, either, but just get knocked unconscious and have a few scratches here and there. My chakra feels all weird now, like I'd have to re-learn everything."

"That's..." Sakura fumbled for a word, before settling meekly with one understatement. "That's bad. So you can't really be sure how you'll do in an exam?"

"No, I can't. Wish I knew why, though."

"Do you think you'd be able to re-learn everything now?"

"I might, but it'd be risky. We could get detected just 'cause I can't control my chakra properly. Man, this sucks!"

Sakura thought for a while before turning back to Naruto. "Do you think you could take the night shift?"

"Yeah, sure," answered Naruto, a puzzled frown creasing his forehead.

"I think my reserves should be back to normal by tomorrow morning. If Sasuke hasn't woken up yet, we could set traps around and you could practice then while I'd stay hidden, on the lookout. That way, if there are enemy ninjas coming our way, we could handle them while they're trying to ambush you, and if no one comes, you'd get some control over your chakra."

"Awesome! Sakura, you're a genius!"

Sakura smiled at Naruto's beaming face. His antics rarely failed to amuse her, even if she usually responded with rather violent behavior.

* * *

Naruto was drenched with sweat. Within one short hour, Naruto had regained enough of his chakra control to summon clones with almost the admittedly coarse control he was accustomed to, and tree-walking had followed without any major snags, though Naruto had incessantly grumbled over his inability to predict whether the next attempt would slice through the tree or simply slide down the bark. To be quite frank, Naruto felt that his control was still subpar, and would have preferred to also work on water-walking. He could now scale up and down a tree with relative ease, if even he could still feel that the flow of chakra still wasn't smooth. Indeed, there were a few instances were Naruto felt almost as if he were going to fall, or to break the tree trunk, yet nothing happened and thus Naruto concluded the exercise completed.

What was unexpected, however, was the trouble Naruto had with his _Repputoppa. _The _Repputoppa_ did not cause any trouble in terms of execution speed or direction. No, those aspects were expediently dealt with within the first few minutes. What utterly baffled him instead was that every once in a while, the _Repputoppa_ would be more of a grenade than a ball of air. The second tree he'd targeted had exploded in a shower of tree bark, yet he could neither consciously make that happen (as proven by the boringly conventional broken branches on his third trial) nor suppress this power (as his eleventh trial gleefully demonstrated).

And so he spent the next hour blasting nearly everything in sight. One unexpected advantage of this prolonged training exercise was that he discovered he could extend the sensor field over time. Indeed, at the very edge of the audible range, Naruto could make out a Genin team stomping none-too-subtly toward their camp. Naruto made sure to notify Sakura in advance as she could take the opportunity to prepare properly for their arrival. Once he saw Sakura subtly shift the _genjutsu_ fields in the correct direction, he resumed making noises, though he was careful to use negligible amounts of chakra. After all, it wouldn't do to confront an enemy while exhausted from training!

As it was, though, Naruto could soon discern the approaching Genin team more clearly and he started to doubt their ability to survive. There was one chakra signature that was particularly heavy, and it was massive! Naruto knew from the sensor field that they were still well outside the normal detection range, yet even at this distance, the killer intent could be easily felt by Naruto. Naruto nodded to Sakura to gain her attention before using hand signs to communicate. This was one case where the _genjutsu_ had to be extremely subtle, well below detection range, if they were to have any chance of survival. Contrary to popular belief, Naruto was confident in his ability but not quite that overconfident just yet.

A cross-shaped seal later, six clones of Naruto appeared in various places around the clearing, two of them immediately performing a _Henge_ into Sakura and two more transforming into Sasuke. Naruto then hid himself within the bushes and was relieved when he saw Sakura take this threat seriously. She had somehow managed to tighten her _Kori Shinchuu no Jutsu_ while decreasing the chakra disturbance. As an additional precaution, she had also moved to the opposite edge and was waiting for their trap to be sprung. In theory, their plan was a sound one, though Naruto wasn't so sure it would make any difference in practice. He could now sense their opponent without straining himself and was dismayed to admit that this _Genin_ was even more powerful than Orochimaru!

Indeed, Naruto was among the most apt among his generation at detecting and reading chakra signatures, due mostly to his troubled childhood spent running away from them. Therefore, Naruto knew that this was not an opponent he could face in his current state. He grit his teeth: even if he weren't able to defeat them (or rather, the one with the mighty reserves), he would at the very least face them. There simply was no choice: the only viable method for fleeing with one unconscious teammate would be to detain them, and only Sakura could distract them long enough for him to escape.

Naruto moved closer to Sakura, attracting her attention. "Ne, Sakura, do you think I should hit them with a jutsu now?"

"Naruto? What are you talking about? We can't even see them."

"Well, I do have one jutsu I could hit them with, sorta like the _Repputoppa_, only much longer range and more powerful. It takes a really long time to prepare, but right now I could prepare it and hit them and still have time left before they get here."

"Tcha! Since when do you know long-term jutsus that take a long time to prepare?" Before Naruto could become indignant, Sakura's rational side took over. "Actually, never mind that. You'll tell us the details later, when we're not in the exam." Sakura now thought for a while, weighing the options. "Do you think you could take all of them out?"

Naruto made a moue. "I think I can only hit one of them. After that, they'd be too close for a second hit." This was the reason he hadn't immediately rushed into trying his technique: the _Kaze no Teisei_ consumed the entire sensor field once fired, which was what leant it its strength even over such long distances. However, Naruto felt it might be necessary. "They'd know one of us knows _Fuuton_ jutsu and so would prepare for that. Then again, one of them's really strong."

This was one of the scenarios Sakura had imagined. Naruto would probably not bother seeking her opinion if he weren't spooked. "If one of them's strong enough to scare you, I think we should take that one out."

Naruto silently prepared _a Kaze no Teisei_, taking care to extend the sensor field well beyond his usual range, only stopping once he could clearly map the disturbances created by the movement from the incoming team. There were two figures out of the three who seemed able to hold large chakra reserves: one was a larger form holding a package about as big as the Genin himself (or was it herself?), while the other smaller one held... was that an oversized gourd on his back? Naruto felt that the gourd-holding Genin was probably more threatening and decided to blast him out. He poured on more and more chakra into his hands before releasing enough to smash through even the thickest of metal doors, exchanging super-sonic speeds for more power; yet to his utter surprise, the last data he received from the dispersing field showed the gourd melting away to form a coccoon around his target.

Sakura saw his astonishment. "What happened? Was it successful?"

"I'm... not sure. There was this guy with a huge gourd on his back, and I blasted him. But the gourd sorta just melted away into a ball around him, so he may have protected himself at the last second. How the heck did he know the attack was coming?"

"Maybe he heard it?"

"I guess that could be possible," Naruto grudgingly conceded. "It doesn't make sense, though: it travels at near the speed of sound itself, so how could he hear it coming?"

Sakura wracked her brain for another explanation, but failed to find any. "I don't know. But the main point is that they know you have that jutsu, and we know we have to watch out for that gourd."

"Yeah, I guess we now know more about them then them about us."

"There is that. So what do they look like?"

* * *

Temari could feel something was wrong with the wind. She had spent quite the effort to become a proficient _Fuuton_ user, most of it simply to tame the unruly element, and had developed a remote sense of affinity with it. Yet now, it just felt... wrong. It still responded to her commands as readily and forcefully as ever, and its flow was normal. Despite all that, it put Temari on edge, which Kankurou noticed.

"Hey, sis! What's gotten your panties in a knot?"

"Urusei! There's something wrong about this."

"Oh, come on! What's wrong? You scared by some stupid Genins who can't stay silent?" Kankurou snickered before speaking once more. "Oh! I see! The big bad daughter of the Kazekage is scared by some hapless children!"

"Kankurou." Though it was barely above a whisper, Gaara's voice effectively terminated Kankurou's snicker. "Keep quiet."

After that ultimatum, the trio trudged among the forest roots until suddenly, Gaara's gourd dissolved into its particle sand even as the sand formed an armored hemisphere covering Gaara faster than any member of the team had ever seen. Which was quite fortunate for Gaara, as the shell immediately exploded when something collided with it. Both of his teammates were shocked, and not by the sand now peppered across their bodies: nothing had ever hit Gaara's automatic protection that hard, completely ripping the outer layer apart and penetrating enough to visibly damage a large area of the hardered ceramic covering Gaara. As it was, the dual defense held up by a hair's breadth and Gaara himself was unharmed.

Silence reigned for a full heartbeat, then another, before Gaara spoke up, as unperturbed as ever. "Kankurou, do you still wish to mock Temari's intuition? The last time Mother was this close to letting me be harmed was when three elite Jonins teamed up against me."

While Temari was glad that Kankurou was quiet once more, she was highly disturbed. Who could possibly launch such a powerful jutsu over this distance?

* * *

Naruto and Sakura both waited in tense silence. The blond had set up another sensor field, though he still hadn't extended it far enough to reach the approaching Genins, while Sakura had modified her _genjutsu_ yet again to simply divert the incoming team rather than weakening them. Whoever could just block Naruto's jutsu at the last second had to be extremely strong. After all, Kakashi did mention that wind attacks were generally undetectable unless one were very sensitive to chakra, or had a _kekkei genkai _like the Sharingan or Byakugan. Now, she was starting to sweat. Though Naruto's jutsus tended to be overpowered and thus easier to detect by the sheer chakra involved, Naruto did mention that his jutsu worked at nearly the speed of sound.

At first, the realization hadn't sunk in. The long wait had taken care of that, however: whoever was coming could _react_ at the speed of sound, and not simply launch attacks at that speed. And as the seconds turned into minutes and minutes threatened to stretch to an hour, the sun now firmly above the horizon and halfway across the sky into its apex, Sakura could feel whatever confidence she had evaporating. Couldn't they simply run away and hide away somewhere else? Naruto was stealthy enough to not leave tracks, while Sakura had paid attention in class and therefore knew the proper procedure to move without leaving tracks. Yet her logic reined in her instincts and told them to stand their ground: the only reason the perimeter hadn't been breached yet was due to the _genjutsu_ she had cast, and leaving would only work in their opponents' advantage.

When the opposing Genin team did break through the copse of trees, though, Sakura was underwhelmed. Was she afraid of a girl carrying an oversized fan, a boy with a gourd on his back and a guy with paint on his face? But then, Sakura remembered how unassuming Haku had been, and how skillfull he was. In addition, there was an insane gleam in the boy's dark-rimmed eyes, a howl of rage, of unbridled bloodlust veiled behind green irises, even as his posture and stance claimed that he didn't have a care in the world, that the very act of breathing and living was beneath his attention. The dichotomy reminded Sakura of what Naruto had revealed: this boy could react faster than she could ever hope to. Even if Kakashi had trained them extensively in _taijutsu_, Sakura doubted they'd reach the speed required to break the sound barrier -those who could were few and far between, the most notable one being the Yondaime Hokage. One generally had to specialize in _taijutsu_ to reach these speeds, and Team Seven most definitely did not specialize in _taijutsu_, not with a _ninjutsu_ prodigy such as Sasuke Uchiha in their team. Thus, Sakura had no viable way to deal with the Suna Genins who strolled into the center of the clearing.

From the periphery of her vision, Sakura noted four of Naruto's clones (ones that mimicked her own appearance through a _Henge_, and those who appeared to be Sasuke) preparing the _Repputoppa_. Sakura would have scoffed were it not for the need to keep herself hidden: what could Naruto hope to achieve with the attack other than revealing the decoys? And then it struck her that Naruto was perhaps much more tactically-minded than she had given her credit. If Naruto could take out both the kunoichi as well as the larger ninja, than they may yet be able to escape. The problem would be hitting both of the Suna nins without the gourd-wielding ninja's interference.

What happened next was a complete surprise to Sakura. The red-haired boy, contrary to their expectations, stayed motionless, leaving his teammates to fend for themselves. The kunoichi grabbed her fan and unfolded it to reveal three moons before swinging it toward the surmised direction of the _Repputoppa_ -quite an impressive feat, considering what Kakashi had revealed. Then again, perhaps not quite so, mused Sakura. As was now apparent, the kunoichi was a fearsome _Fuuton_ user, if the leveled terrain were to be believed. Yet Naruto's clones not only avoided dispelling, but managed to push the _Repputoppa_ forward despite the fierce winds the Suna kunoichi generated from her fan, and forced her to parry with her fan. Despite the earlier struggle, Naruto's doubled _Repputoppa_ still carried enough momentum to send the Suna kunoichi skidding, a scowl set on her face.

When Sakura turned her attention to the other target, she was surprised to see the damage Naruto had caused. There were splinters of wood protruding from the bandaged object slung from his shoulders, though the ninja himself was unharmed. It seemed that Naruto had managed to remove his trump card. As it was, though they had lost the advantage of surprise and instead revealed the location of two teams of clones. Nevertheless, with the original Naruto still safe and undetected, they had one more chance to enact the same plan. As was taught at the Academy, sometimes repeating a procedure would confuse the enemy more thoroughly than simply applying a new tactic.

However, all of Sakura scheming went for naught when the red-haired Genin looked straight at Naruto, despite both foliage and flawless _genjutsu_ covering their locations. "You can come out now. Mother wants your blood." Both of his teammates stilled at that phrase, and Sakura felt dread when she saw their frozen expressions. Whatever it meant, it did not bode well for their survival if even the red-haired boy's teammates were scared. "Or do you want me to kill you where you are, little fox?"

Sakura was surprised to feel Naruto freeze up before her. Quite understandable, given the peculiar phrase the Genin had chosen. How did he know about the S-class secret? Or did he? If he did, who could possibly be foolish enough to wish to face that red-cloaked monstrosity that Naruto had become on the bridge, when he'd lost control over himself? How could anyone possibly be powerful enough to even taunt Naruto to tap into that dreadful chakra?

Yet here was this Genin, calmly waiting for Naruto to come out. Sakura was startled to feel Naruto moving beside her. When she turned around, she could see him glaring back at the Genin. "Sakura," Naruto whispered, "stay here. Sasuke needs someone to look after him, so just stay here and keep the _genjutsu_ active."

Sakura stared at Naruto in wonder. She knew she had been harsh to the blond during their days at the Academy, when Naruto pined for her in a fair imitation of a puppy. Later, when they were paired together, she barely tolerated him, and then she nearly refused to be in his proximity when she learned about his tenant, during that fateful mission to Wave. Yet here he was, ready to offer himself as a sacrifice for his teammates when he knew there was no other way.

"I'll be back after I kick his ass," the blond added helpfully with a foxy grin. Or perhaps not, after all. Yet the underlying message was the same: Naruto would (and was about to) take the fall for the team without hesitation.

"Dobe. Who said I need someone to look after me?"

* * *

When Orochimaru had bitten Sasuke, all the Uchiha could feel were his collapsing chakra pathways. Typically, only the Hyuugas were capable of feeling such systems, but Tsunade soon forced herself and her legendary chakra control into that short list. Yet Sasuke could actively feel his chakra coils mysteriously dry out, and his tenketsus deplete from their precious content. At the same time, he could feel something seeping from the bite-mark into his blood, contaminating his body and creeping about in his chakra pathways, something reaching here and there and leaving its foul signature trailing about everywhere. And then it, whatever _it_ was, it rammed itself into the central chakra coil located in the _danten_, forcing out the very essence that defined Sasuke's chakra signature. A battle of will occurred between the two bodies of chakra, and Sasuke's consciousness was its first victim.

The sun was already ascending when he woke up, whereas it had been dusk when he'd finally relented to the embrace of the darkness. His trained mind immediately catalogued his surroundings, arriving to the conclusion that his teammates were probably safe and around. And then the sudden sonic disturbances occurred outside, making Sasuke cock his head to a side while analyzing the battle, however short-lived it was. After his head finally cleared the cobwebs of sleep, Sasuke identified the sounds as those produced by Naruto's _Repputoppa_. The patterns did not correspond to those produced in training, as the interval between strikes lengthened indefinitely. Therefore, surely there was a confrontation ongoing outside the cave.

Sasuke kept his chakra lowered, and creeped about in the shadows until he saw Naruto and Sakura crouching within the foliage of an overgrown patch of grass, effectively hidden from a trio of Suna Genin standing in the center of the clearing, one of them impassive, another one looking ruffled but still in fighting condition while the third one had his weapon destroyed. All in all, pretty good work for a dobe, mused Sasuke. It was when he noticed Sakura's eyes drifting back to two spots in the entire forest ahead of her. Sasuke himself didn't see anything unusual until he activated his Sharingan, whereupon he easily detected the forms of Team Seven's Genins scampering about in the trees. Obviously that must have been how Naruto managed to hit two targets with his _Repputoppa_.

Presently, he heard the red-haired Suna Genin address Naruto, going as far as revealing the S-class secret to rile up the blond. Judging by his comments to Sakura, Naruto seemed scared by this opponent though he still wouldn't abandon a supposedly helpless teammate. That just wouldn't do, concluded Sasuke. "Dobe. Who said I need someone to look after me?"

"Teme! You're awake!"

"Sasuke-kun! I knew you'd be alright."

Though both of his teammates conveyed their excitement, Sasuke noted with satisfaction that they managed to keep their tone down, even if the enemy had ostensibly located Naruto. Currently, however, Sasuke had a job to perform.

"Hn. Dobe, don't bother with them. I'll take care of whatever you couldn't do."

"Teme! Careful with the red-haired guy. He can react at the speed of sound, and his gourd contains some sort of flowing stuff that he can control. Perhaps we should try the combination attack Kakashi taught us."

Sasuke waved away his precautions without any thought. "Don't worry. I can take care of them. I'm now more powerful then you could ever imagine." In truth, Sasuke still remembered Naruto's red-cloaked form and still rankled at being proven weaker than his teammate. If he could dispose of whomever was powerful enough to scoff at that power, than he would be one step closer to defeating his brother. Sasuke also felt an irrational urge to cause mayhem and destruction, to vent his rage against the world in the most brutal and explosive manner conceivable, though he wouldn't admit his lack of self-control to anyone, especially himself.

Naruto was about to insist, Sasuke saw from the edge of his Sharingan-enhanced vision. However, the Uchiha simply brushed off his concerns before the blond could voice them and stepped out into the clearing, facing the Suna Genins without apprehension. Even if the Suna Genin could react at the speed of sound as Naruto had insinuated, his eyes could track movement at the speed of light, as Haku had shown with his senbons.

"Don't waste your time with the dobe. Your fight is with me."

"Feh!" The kunoichi spat on the ground to punctuate her disgust. "Well, if it isn't the overrated pansy Uchiha!"

"Temari." It was the ever-impassive Genin in the middle who addressed her. "It is impolite to assume that he knows our identities. Though it will not matter much if you keep standing in the way of Mother, we are the children of Kazekage. Temari is on my left and Kankurou is on my right. I myself am Sabaku no Gaara."

"Hn. Am I supposed to be impressed? It doesn't matter if you're children of the Kazekage; as long as you don't have the strength to stand against me, you will be defeated."

"Uchiha Sasuke. For temporarily preventing Mother from feasting on fox blood, She will drink yours now!"

Gaara twitched one eyebrow, and sand poured out of the gourd in response, rushing toward Sasuke at a breakneck speed. Yet the Uchiha was also barely perturbed, as the speed of the sand was still easily trackable. His body, on the other hand, wasn't quite used to this speed and Sasuke could barely dodge the thrust of the sand without forcing himself much more than he'd have expected. Gaara then raised one entire arm, having seen the Uchiha dodge his half-fearted attempt without much trouble, and sent more sand flying out of his gourd even faster than the first attempt. Instead of simply dodging once more, Sasuke vaulted over the sand and twirled in mid-air as practiced in the Taka-style _taijutsu_, sailing toward his opponent with his right hand cocked back.

His fist was blocked by a wall of sand, a wall harder than any brick wall Sasuke had ever punched. However, rather than panicking at his precarious situation, Sasuke gathered even more of his weight onto his knuckles and pushed himself off of Gaara, cartwheeling away to increase the distance. It seems that Gaara really should not be underestimated, much as Naruto had warned him. His teammates, on the other hand, might prove much easier targets if even the dobe could touch them.

Sasuke once again charged toward Gaara with his full Sharingan-enhanced speed unleashed while keeping track of all three Suna Genins with his special vision. When a spear of sand reached out to impale him, Sasuke used the opportunity to twist his torso out of the way and kick off from the sand to somersault toward his true target, Temari. The kunoichi reacted with laudable speed, instantly unfolding her fan and swinging it to blast Sasuke off from his trajectory. Unfortunately for her, though, Sasuke had already finished forming seals and his _Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu_ plowed through her slicing winds, simply absorbing the air as fuel for the fire. Instead of hiding behind her fan as Sasuke had expected, Temari managed to close her fan and use it as a pole to vault higher than Sasuke. As she descended, she swung her fan overhead, ostensibly to club Sasuke over the head.

Sasuke would not be outdone so easily, forcing himself to twist out of the way. It was fortunate for the Uchiha that his Sharingan had predicted the true motive behind her telegraphed attack, as Sasuke then managed to place a hand on top of her fan when Temari suddenly unfolded it with the intent to slice Sasuke in half. Before the motion was even completed, however, Temari had to crouch beneath Sasuke's dual spin kick. It was only because she had calculated her trajectory perfectly that she was able to evade the follow-up hail of shuriken by twisting herself as soon as her feet touched the ground and parry the trio of kunai with her fan, watching as Sasuke landed ten paces away from her.

"Well, well, well. Look at that; it seems the prettyboy thought he could take me with that pitiful attempt! Though I must admit, prettyboy is better than I gave him credit for."

Nothing enraged Sasuke quite as efficiently as dismissing his abilities, especially when one earned the right to do so by evading an attack he'd thought flawless. While it was obvious even to Sasuke that Temari had intended to rile him up in order to befuddle his attack patterns, he couldn't help himself but become angered and in his rage, allow Orochimaru's gift to seep into his bloodstream and chakra pathways. Comma-shaped seals multiplied from their original location on the neck until Sasuke was covered by the exotic forms from head to toe, even as his chakra turned tainted, not quite human.

As Temari observed the metamorphosis, some of her worry shone through subtle cracks in her perpetual mask of indifference. She delivered yet another slicing wind, which prompted Sasuke to concentrate a mass of chakra in his lungs, eclipsing each of his previous efforts. Instead of the earlier fireball that appeared, from Sasuke's mouth surged a purple inferno that burned black upon contact with the winds. By the time the chaos settled down into the more common sight of ashes and red-hot ground covering an area well over ten meters in diameter, Temari could no longer seen. Yet Sasuke did not lower his guard, for he had spied her furtive motions through his Sharingan. His observations were confirmed when Temari blocked the shurikens he threw down into a bush in his blind spot. When she emerged, it was clear that she had been understimated the intensity of Sasuke's _Goukakyu no Jutsu_, as attested to by the singed edges of her clothes and hair.

Her next attempt at engaging the Uchiha was stalled when Gaara appeared in front of her with a swirl of sand. "Enough, Temari. He has proven himself worthy, and Mother now wants both his blood and that of the fox."

Whereas she had been barely fazed by Sasuke, she was now positively trembling in fear. "Y-Yes, Gaara. I'll step aside."

"Uchiha Sasuke, meet your doom! _Sabaku Kyuu!_" Gaara outstretched both hands and sand spilled forth from his gourd, much faster than his previous attacks. Yet Sasuke had read his body beforehand, and took his time sidestepping the massive wave of sand that threatened to engulf him. Gaara saw Sasuke evade his attack, the very first time a Genin had done so. Rather than be discouraged, Gaara flicked his fingers. "_Suna Shuriken!_" At his command, balls of sand protruded from the outstretched body and flew toward Sasuke. While the Sharingan allowed Sasuke to predict and evaluate the relative danger of each projectile, his body was unable twist fast enough to dodge the barrage of sand, not entirely. Whereas Haku's senbons offered pinpoints surface attacks for increased pressure, the sheer bulk of Gaara's projectiles ensured that the Uchiha would not have sufficient space to maneuver himself out of all collisions. Thus, the Uchiha allowed himself to be hit on his right thigh and elbow, using the momentum from the collision to launch three kunai, all tagged with explosive seals.

A wall of sand intercepted the incoming missiles, much to Sasuke's disappointment. The sand held firm even against the shockwave from the explosion, solidly guarding Gaara until the fire died down before gravity took over once more and the hard-packed creation disintegrated into the component particles. The two combatants glared at one another. Gaara was left entirely unscathed, whereas Sasuke was bruised and his clothes frayed from being pelted by the sand projectiles. Sasuke growled before racing through another set of seals while Gaara watched, unconcerned and arms at rest on his sides. After forcing even more chakra than before into his lungs, Sasuke then threw a small purple projectile at Gaara, much smaller and more dense than his previous _Goukakyu_. Before it even connected, Sasuke had raced to another location, spewing a second, and then a third, fourth and fifth fireballs, each from a new and random location.

As they were about to collide, however, the flames for each of the five fireballs suddenly turned black, and Gaara's sand shield became transparent before the black flames plowed through the brittle glass into the next layer of sand. When the _Housenkas_ reached Gaara five layers of sand later, they exploded from contact to each other, and even Sasuke could feel the scalding air rushing toward his perch more than twenty meters away from the epicenter. Yet as he disappeared in a _Shunshin _to flee the flames, it was his Sharingan that prevented him from colliding into Gaara. It took the vast majority of his chakra to veer off before collision, and then whatever was left was wasted on a _Goukakyu_ that collided soundly with Kankurou's bundle. Sasuke witnessed his purple fireball incinerate whichever weapon was hidden inside those wraps right before noticing the ground approaching at an alarming rate, only to fall unconscious at the harsh greeting.

* * *

Shikamaru had been against following the Uchiha's team around. In fact, even Chouji had been against it, and together they overruled Ino's plans for meddling in Team Seven's affairs. Yet before even 24 hours had elapsed, here they were, watching the Uchiha fight against some opponent both insanely strong and just plain crazed, judging by his constant referrals to some figure he called "Mother". What was worse was that the Uchiha seemed to be suffering some kind of condition that tainted his chakra. Shikamaru had almost wasted his meager reserves on saving his teammate as she twitched in anticipation of jumping in to save the Uchiha, though Chouji's timely intervention had prevented such abuse of his already-taxed system.

"Ino," Shikamaru drawled, "even if you step in, we'll still get slaughtered. Those guys are just too strong for us. It's really too troublesome. We should just lie down until they're far away."

"But he's Sasuke," hissed Ino. The Nara was glad to notice that she had at least refrained from her customary squealing when referring to the Uchiha.

"Tche! Of course he is, but Uchiha or not, we'd still get slaughtered trying to get him out of that troublesome mess. Going there would help neither him or us."

Ino finally stopped struggling, resigned to their fate. Truly, even Shikamaru felt that watching a fellow Konoha nin get killed was beyond troublesome, though he could do nothing to help in this situation, even if he factored in Naruto and Sakura's possible involvement. _After _he factored in the Uchiha's teammates, Shikamaru amended, as they now entered the fray, Naruto providing the brunt of the offensive while Sakura assisted with well-timed _genjutsu_. Now, if they had another strong Genin to help carry Sasuke, another extremely fast one to remove himself, someone else to divert attention and someone to occupy the Suna kunoichi, he could enact a feasible plan. Or he could even enact an extremely risky one without the last three, though it'd be very risky for his own health and for whoever carried him away. Shikamaru inwardly snorted: here he was, wasting resources considering possible solutions for a troublesome -nay, an impossible problem.

And were those shadow clones he hurled at the Suna nins? That provided quite the distraction. With surprise, Shikamaru noted how Naruto's _taijutsu _was tidier than he remembered, and if Naruto were still neither efficient or graceful, at least he could no longer be confused with street brawlers. Watching Naruto survive yet another wave of sand with a steady supply of cannon fodder even as he finally reached his unconscious teammate, Shikamaru had to restrain himself from whistling in admiration, goosebumps raising themselves on his skin against his will. Back during in the Academy, Naruto had already shown great chakra potential, yet this... This was bordering on Kage-level abilities. He knew from his father's comments exactly how taxing the _Kage Bunshin_ was on chakra reserves, and yet Naruto billowed out waves after waves of clones, managing to slow the ferocious sands to a crawl by sheer, brute force, blocking the probing spearheads with an unwavering wall of clones. Indeed, it seemed that Naruto simply ignored the innumerable hordes of screaming clones that charged in suicide runs toward Gaara and kept the other Genins at bay, entirely occupied as he was by the crucial task of generating the endless supply of clones.

Thus, Shikamaru was shocked when he noticed how Naruto would inch both himself and Sasuke half a step nearer the relative safety of the foliage every so often, when his clone barrier was at its densest. It seems Naruto had analyzed the situation and deemed it hopeless with his teammate in danger. While Shikamaru agreed with the overall conclusion and gave the blond credit for recognizing the difficulty of keeping three opponents at bay while simultaneously handling an incapacitated teammate on his own, Naruto's solution was a rather clumsy one, without finesse or subtlety and grossly, grossly inefficient, quite painfully so. Indeed, even the dramatic improvement Shikamaru spied in Naruto's _taijutsu_ and even with the_ genjutsu_ that occasionally assisted Naruto, the only reason he survived the onslaught of the opposing Genin team was the impenetrable fortress of clones Naruto maintained around himself and -perhaps more importantly even in Naruto's eyes, Shikamaru grudgingly granted the blond- his teammate.

The Hyuuga's _Kaiten_ was reputed as a classic example of an absolute defense, and it seemed that one of the Suna Genins had another in the guise of the sand acting on his every whim. Yet Shikamaru was most impressed by what could be arguably the least expected form of a barrier defense: Naruto's unabashed abuse of a Jonin-level jutsu. Even now, when Naruto's goal was obvious to anyone paying attention, Naruto still managed to fight his way ever closer to freedom, his mind cleared of all clutter in favor of imposing his will on his chakra. His clones, on the other hand, were improving significantly in their teamwork and were busy experimenting new formations. On one side, clones picked up thes one behind them to themselves faster and faster toward the Suna kunoichi, waiting for the sacrificed cluster to be dispelled while others clung their bodies to the ground to stomp their way below the range of the kunoichi's fan jutsu.

At the other end of the clearing, tidy chains of clones surrounded the fearsome sand wielder on all sides, one clone always ready to take advantage of bursts of cloud to break through while others further back waited for the right opportunity to attack from either above or below. Occasionally, some would manage to get close by way of _Kawarimi_ with improvised projectiles, and Shikamaru found himself amused when one particularly daring clone attempted to exchange itself with the gourd of sand! Unfortunately, none of the antics were distracting enough to completely abolish the progression of the sand, which wormed its way toward Naruto, slowly but inexorably.

Oh, the strategies Shikamaru could devise with the ability to conjure shadow clones at Naruto's level, or even simply with such insane amounts of chakra at his disposal! Mentally snorting, Shikamaru berated himself for falling back into wishful thinking. Everyone knew what wishes would do in an ideal world, and everyone knew that this isn't an ideal world. After all, even if the help did eventually arrive, it would have to happen soon if it were to be of any use, before Naruto got himself killed from his reckless defense. As if on cue, Naruto's left eyebrow twitched, initiating a cascade rippling through his body that would remain undetected by most Genins, or even the majority of Chunins. Yet Shikamaru read it clearly, even without the help of doujutsu, and easily assigned a reason for this behavior: surely Naruto's chakra reserves must be dwindling. Hope would soon be lost, and not even Naruto's inhuman chakra capacity could rectify that situation as Gaara slowly but steadily gained ground. Clearly, Naruto could not possibly get out of there alive, not with the Uchiha unconscious and Sakura unable to provide physical support.

Shikamaru sighed. If only he could get even one other Genin team to assist him, he'd be able to support Naruto. Troublesome as it was, watching the blond struggle against and withstand the impossible odds for his teammate sparked a fire within Shikamaru that Asuma never quite managed: the Will of Fire. If the blond was willing to spend so much effort for the taciturn Uchiha, risking life and limb, Shikamaru wanted to see him succeed, wanted to save a fellow Genin who truly understood the struggle of life. Now, he sorely wished for having the means to successfully help Naruto complete his mission, though he was rational enough to acknowledge the cause as lost even before it began.

Then again, mused Shikamaru, perhaps wishes could sometimes spawn miracles in some situations. Unless he was mistaken, those were Shino's kikkai insects buzzing in the near vicinity.

"Ino, prepare for possible action. We may be able to help, if Team Eight is willing."

"H-Hai... We w-would be willing to help, Shikamaru-san."

"Troublesome. Here's my plan. Hinata. You go make sure that Suna kunoichi doesn't interfere. I think she uses _Fuuton_, and doujutsus are particularly useful when fighting typical _Fuuton_ users. Chouji, you'll provide support in case Hinata needs it. Kiba. You should go help Naruto haul Sasuke away, and Akamaru could help by making sure that cat-eared Suna ninja doesn't interfere. When you're near enough, tell Naruto to make as many clones as he can to interfere with the Genins, especially the red-haired one, but to keep enough to remain fully alert.

"I know it's troublesome, but Ino, when you see the possibility, transfer your mind with either the kunoichi or the cat-eared ninja. Don't do anything against that red-haired guy, he's clinically insane. Plus there's also something troublesome with him that I can't identify right now." Shikamaru paused to let out a sigh that sounded suspiciously similar to "troublesome." "While you're waiting for that opportunity, find Sakura and tell her the plan.

"Shino, you and I will be distracting _that _boy, the red-haired one. He's the most dangerous of anyone in the clearing. Once you're all in position, I'll hold him still while Shino distracts him with his kikkai bugs. Once you get your targets, Kiba, Akamaru and Naruto will carry Sasuke and go West, Hinata, Ino and Sakura will go North, and Shino, Chouji and I will go East. We'll meet up two kilometers North of here. With a forest as dense as this one, that should be enough to be out of detection range, unless they have a chakra-sensory type or a powerful _doujutsu_. Shino, you'll have to drag me out of here. I'll stall the Suna nins as long as I can, but I'll be too tired to move entirely on my own. Got it?" Seeing everyone nod, Shikamaru gave out his command. "Now go!"

Immediately, Kiba and Akamaru circled the clearing while Hinata and Chouji stalked toward their target in the opposite direction. As soon as Shikamaru saw this, he emerged into the clearing, giving the signal to start. The timing was quite fortunate for Naruto, as the blond was nearly spent from creating so many distractions in his effort to save Sasuke. Shikamaru used his _Kage Mane no Jutsu_ to hold Gaara himself at bay while Shino attacked with a dense groups of bugs. To their surprise, the sand defense was not at all affected, stopping the insects before they could reach him and nearly freeing Gaara from the shadow binding. After that first encounter with the sand wall, Shino exercised caution when choosing his paths of attack, making sure to keep the sand occupied but unable to sever the shadows.

Ino had no trouble locating Sakura and decided for once to not reciprocate the insults ("Ino-Pig! This is no pigsty; shoo!"), wisely choosing instead to alert her about Shikamaru's plan. Even before she could complete the explanation, the strategy was set in motion and both kunoichi could observe the participants. While Shino and Shikamaru effectively prevented Gaara from attacking, Kiba and Akamaru jumped in to save Naruto and Sasuke, Akamaru proving to be a veritable nuisance for Kankurou. Temari meanwhile had her hands full keeping both Chouji and Hinata from getting near her: even in Suna the stories of the Byakugan's power were rampant, and the sheer size of Chouji's enlarged limbs made her reluctant to engage him in a contest of strength.

As soon as Naruto and Kiba made their way across the clearing to exit to the West, Kankurou followed them at a sedate pace, hampered in his progress by Akamaru. Shikamaru took that as his cue to act, waiting until Kankurou was nearly in range to assist Temari before ensnaring him with more shadows. When Hinata left as well, Temari scowled and glared at Shikamaru. She brought up her fan and was about to start swivelling it in their direction when she sensed someone behind her. Instead of targeting Shikamaru, she turned herself before unleashing the shearing winds behind her, preventing Hinata from reaching her position. A shadow darted out toward her, though Temari was quick to jump away. Having seen the effects of the jutsu, she knew she had to keep out of its clutches. This deadly dance revolved again and again, well into the three-minute mark and Shikamaru was starting to feel the strain.

Under optimal conditions, Shikamaru could hold one person for ten minutes. Under stress, he could usually keep his jutsu for five minutes. However, he had never tried immobilizing someone of Gaara's strength, let alone two struggling shinobis for any length of time. Even worse was that Hinata was starting to falter: she had kept dodging with remarkable speed and agility, successfully evading the myriad attacks sent her way. This was the part where he could really use someone with extreme speed, as _Shunshin_ would be too easily tracked.

As if to mock his views on wishes, Lee's sudden appearance after a burst of raw speed nearly startled Shikamaru into releasing his _Kage Mane_. The latter was sorely tempted to observe those thick eyebrows, as mesmerized as Naruto, but instead favored seizing the newly-created opportunity to finally bind Temari with his shadows.

"Shikamaru, Sakura has requested that I help you to safety."

"First could you please knock out that kunoichi and the cat-eared ninja?"

"With pleasure!" Dust covered his disappearance, and Lee was back even before the cloud had settled down. "Shino and Hinata, please go to our predetermined location. We'll follow soon enough." Without wasting time to nod, both Genins shot off at top speed. Relieved to meet no opposition, Shikamaru told Lee: "Be ready to go after them at any moment. I don't know how much longer I can hold this."

Just as he finished his sentence, Shikamaru's shadow binding faltered for a sliver of a second before reasserting itself. Yet that brief respite was sufficient for Gaara to twitch one hand, sending sand out to impale his captor. Only Lee's action prevented fatal damage, as he punched the sand away moments before it pierced Shikamaru. Now warned, Shikamaru was much more careful with his remaining chakra, making sure to send it out in a steady trickle for the next few seconds. Lee noticed this and was off darting among the trees even before the shadows had completely subsided. While he would have preferred engaging the Suna Genin, he understood that this was neither the place nor time to do so.

Gaara was sorely tempted to follow them, though he understood that in this one instance, while Mother was sufficient to protect him from even that strange, black fire, he would be unable to pursue after them, not without transforming. While he was generally eager to follow Mother's whispers, psychotic as they may be, even he was loathe to let her out completely, much as he would rather forego sleep if at all possible. Thus, he resigned himself to stoop so low as to let his prey escape in favor of reviving his teammates. Weak as they were, they probably held a better chance of catching up with those Konoha insects than he had.

* * *

When the three Genin teams and Lee were reunited, they could scarcely believe having survived the ordeal. Gaara was definitely not someone you wished to face, whether as part of a team or alone. Though they knew not, their motley group had accomplished more than even standard teams of Chunins could hope for by simply surviving an encounter with a bloodthirsty _jinchuuriki_ and escaping without significant damage to any members. Now that they were out of the immediate crisis, though, it was time for a little information gathering.

"Oi, so troublesome," grumbled Shikamaru. "Sakura, Naruto, are you both alright?"

"Yeah." For perhaps the first time since Shikamaru had known the boy, Naruto was visibly tired. The Nara found the experience disconcerting. "I'm tired but alright. Teme here, though, acted strange. I don't know if you saw it, but teme had all these strange seals spreading over him. Sakura said it's probably caused by what that Orochimaru guy did to him. Orochimaru of the Densetsu no Sannin, I mean. I think that teme bit Sasuke on the neck or something. He did something to me as well, but it must've been a weak thing, because I've gotten it mostly under control for now."

"So in short, you somehow managed to survive Orochimaru, though Sasuke received some seal, and then you faced off against these Suna nins?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much it. There were also the Oto Genins, but they're taken care of."

Kiba whistled. He still remembered how they utterly squashed Kabuto before the first test. If that was any indication, they were also pretty strong. Just how much had Naruto improved since the Academy?

Lee was also of the same mind. "YOSH! Kakashi did indeed stoke your fires of youth!"

"Oi, by the way, we have two extra Earth scrolls but don't have a Heaven one. Does anyone have anything to exchange?"

Shikamaru snorted. "Troublesome. How did you get three scrolls? Don't tell me you defeated the Iwa nins as well."

"Nah! The other Earth scroll came from some weak Kiri nins. Well, they were weak because Sakura turned their _genjutsu_ back on them, otherwise we would've had a lot of trouble."

Shikamaru shook his head. It seems Kakashi had somehow managed to whip his team into a formidable force despite being late at every possible opportunity. "Troublesome, but we only have a Heaven scroll."

Sakura looked up at him. "Here, have one. After all, we owe you guys."

"My youthful teammates have already procured both a Heaven and an Earth scroll. Speaking of my teammates, I should return to our camp."

Sakura bowed while Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Thank you very much, Lee. We appreciate your help."

"Yeah, what she said. Hey! You're pretty strong. Wanna spar after the exams?"

"Naruto! Be more respectful!"

"Yosh! I accept your youthful invitation! Now, I must be off before I'm late." And with a green blur, the spandex-clad Genin vanished into the forest.

"Man he's fast," commented Kiba. "I hope I won't have to face him in the finals!"

"Troublesome. I didn't even get to thank him for saving my behind. Now, what about anyone Team Eight? Do you have an extra Heaven scroll?"

"Ano... We just have one Heaven scroll as well." Hinata turned to her teammates. "W-Would you mind if we... anou... exchange our Heaven scroll for their Earth scroll? Th-that way they'd get a-a complete set, and we w-wouldn't lose anything."

"Ne, Hinata, you guys saved us too. Here," Naruto whipped out his spare scroll as he spoke, "this one's for you."

"B-but we haven't e-earned it, Naruto-kun."

"Of course you have! If you hadn't come then to help us, we could've ended up dead, or at the very least lose all of our scrolls. You've definitely earned it!" Seeing that Hinata was still unconvinced, Naruto turned to Kiba. "Here, take this."

Grinning, Kiba accepted the proferred scroll. "Thanks, man. Y'know, you turned out to be alright after all, Naruto. Wanna spar?"

Sakura rolled her eyes at the mirrored question. "Men!"

Ino added: "At least your teammates want to train. Mine just want to laze about! Speaking of that, shouldn't we be going to the tower?"

With much grumbling and shuffling, both Team Ten departed before Team Eight also left Team Seven.

"Back to square one," muttered Sakura with a sigh.

"Ne, Sakura, I was thinking, couldn't we just set up camp near the tower and attack whichever team seems weaker than us? That way, we can decide the terms and rules of engagement on our own, rather than stumbling about over here."

Sakura stared at Naruto, making the latter shuffle before she answered. "That's a really good idea. The only problem is that we'll have to make sure we don't fall into other teams' traps, as I'm sure others have already made their camps by now. Oh," she added after some thought, "there's also the problem of getting Sasuke there without being noticed"

Naruto frowned in thought before answering. "I got it!" A cross-shaped seal and several puffs of smoke later, a replica of Team Eight appeared besides Naruto.

"Naruto? Are you sure you're up to this? You've just used a lot of chakra."

"Yeah, but I just rested. I can't make as many clones as I did before, but this isn't too bad. Plus this way, it'll seem like we're two teams working together, and even with one teammate out of the fight, we'd still outnumber others unless they've also joined forces."

Sakura formed a Ram seal, and a 'Kai!' later, Naruto found himself cocking his head ot the side in confusion. "Ne, Sakura, what are you doing?"

"Who are you and what did you do to Naruto?"

* * *

A voice rumbled from deep within the earth. "More of those Konoha scums!"

A pool of water located on top of a massive boulder answered, "You have to admit, though, their strategy of ganging together is proving rather effective right now."

"But what good would it do in the final round? I still say they're just weaklings, all of them."

"True, true. And is that the last Uchiha they're moving?"

"Heh. This is our chance. I say we attack them!"

"Quiet down, you morons!" Unlike her companions, the Kirigakure kunoichi was high on a tree, scouting for hapless Genins to fall into their trap. So far, though, only teams of Konoha Genins had gone by, and each of them had been travelling in large numbers. This corresponded to Konoha's reputation of valuing teamwork above personal ambition: whereas the Iwa nins would not hesitate to attack any of the individual cells, the larger group was a different matter entirely. In this case, though, the group looked rather weary on top of carrying an injured member. Thus, it was to the surprise of no one when the kunoichi decided, "We'll attack spring the trap on them. Even if we fail, we still have enough time to wait for another group, or we could also set up camp even closer to the tower."

* * *

AN: Sorry for being late... I was hoping to hear from my beta-reader, but got no answers. A quick note to everyone who skipped last chapter: Moonshadow7117 detected a significant plot-hole & suggested a workaround. In this new version, Sakura stumbled upon some of the functions of Orochimaru's seals by accident, and Orochimaru didn't leave instructions for the seals.


	12. Ch11 Chunin Exams, Second Test Pt III

Naruto and Sakura stumbled along, carrying their teammate while Naruto's clones stayed on the lookout. Thus, when they saw a cabin in the middle of nowhere, no one thought twice about neither of the Genins noticing the thin mist surrounding the building and instead openly thanking their luck for finding shelter before heading out toward the Tower once more. Two Genins and their teammate flopped down once inside while three other Konoha Genins kept watch. However, they were just as sleepy as the members of Team Seven and therefore couldn't quite be faulted for not immediately noticing a dense fog slowly enveloping the exterior of the house before tendrils seeped into their current living quarters, just as the slumbering Genins themselves had expressed but a moment of surprise at the metal material completely covering the floor before accepting Morpheus' beckon and nodding off to sleep.

* * *

"Look at that! Not so tough now, are you, Konoha scum?" Laughter rumbled from the earth. "C'mon, let's just get this over with!"

"No." The kunoichi finally jumped from her perch to land softly, making sure to withhold her chakra without affecting her stealth. The slightest of disturbance in the mist could have alerted the wavering attention of the sentries posted about, which was contrary to her goals. Without raising her voice, the kunoichi stared hard into the ground, driving home her point. After all, she was the nominal squad leader, even if her battle prowess paled in front of the one she was addressing. "There's something wrong about it all, something we're missing. You would do well to remember why _I_ am squad leader, Kouhei, despite you having the Kouton."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, Natsuki."

Satisfied that her teammate's baser instincts were temporarily quelled, she scanned the house once more. Natsuki sighed as she decided to risk detection by using the standard _Kirigakure no Jutsu_ taught in the Academy. While it was low-rank and chakra requirement for such an enclosure as the Konoha nin's shelter would be minimal, the effects themselves were rather outstanding. However, as the idiom went, beggars couldn't be choosers. Focusing her chakra to build up the mist ever-so-slowly, Natsuki carefully floated in a tendril of mist, waiting until it was mostly dispersed before repeating the operation.

The Konoha nins must have been even more exhausted than their ragged but rhythmic movements implied, Natsuki was relieved to note, as they hadn't even twitched when she accidentally drifted in moisture much too thick to be normal, appearing as a white tentacle rather than a wisp of humid air. The Kiri kunoichi now exercised far less caution, relinquishing her control of the opaque moisture hidden outside the walls over to nature, to allow the chakra-laced mist to relax alongside the gradient to cover the single room occupied by their prey. She was rather perplexed to note that everyone now seemed asleep, even those assigned to sentry duty.

"Kouhei, Yuudai, here's the plan. I will weave a _genjutsu_ around the area to force them over to Yuudai should they manage to escape from the house. Kouhei, you will erect a wall of metal right outside the walls and will simultaneously pierce the sentries from across the walls and restrain those on the ground. I will cover the noise you'll be making while preparing the ambush. Are we clear?"

"Ne, Natsuki, I have a question: why don't we just barge in and kill everyone? Our teamwork's supposedly as good as those of Konoha-nins, and they're tired both physically and mentally on top of having to protect someone. We should be able to simply overpower them easily, right?"

It was thankfully Yuudai who had voiced the objection, which made it much easier for the kunoichi to answer. "There's something wrong about them. I'm getting weird vibes from that group, and I'm sure you all remember what happened the last time I got those premonitions." And indeed they did, standing in the path of Zabuza while the latter was on his merry way to Nami no Kuni. Bloodline users or not, their squad was woefully unprepared for the Demon of the Mist. "On top of that, even if they were just hapless Genins ripe for the picking, why waste effort if we can just avoid a struggle?"

"Pfft! I say you're just paranoid 'cause you're weak!"

Natsuki barely repressed her sigh. As she expected, it was only a matter of time until their resident Kouton user spoke his mind. She had to bring him to heel, yet she couldn't afford to alienate him, not after the speech the Mizukage personally delivered to her. After all, she _had_ been nominated as squad leader, and the purpose of re-starting the Mist's stock of _kekkei genkais_ couldn't fail for reasons as mundane as temper. Their new _Mizukage_ may be benevolent most of the time, yet her temper was not to be trifled with. "Kouhei, please do remember how well you fared the last time you decided to disregard my commands."

She left unspoken the utter indignity her teammate must have felt when he was trapped inside a _Suirou no Jutsu_, utterly unable to call forth his steel as Zabuza had been about to slaughter them. Fortunately, Natsuki had been prepared before looking for her teammate and had placed on the _Kubukiri Houchou_ a tracker seal originally intended for Kouhei should he misbehave: if Zabuza killed Kouhei, he would himself become tagged for the Mizukage to hunt at his leisure. The Demon of the Mist had thrown his head back and growled with laughter before accepting their terms. From the explanation he graciously granted them, it was not often that a Genin could manage to pose a credible threat to a nukenin, as even a brief pulse from said tracker seal could bring about mounds of complication for the ex-Kiri ANBU.

Currently, though, Kouhei was still ostensibly considering disregarding her orders. Natsuki could almost read his thoughts without trying: that incident had occurred only because they were faced with a _nukenin_; an A-rank bordering on S-rank one at that. These were simply _Genins_, for goodness's sake! The group of six who'd passed their previous trap were obviously bordering on Chunin-level abilities judging by the fluidity of their movements and stealth, but these insects couldn't take a step on their home turf without breaking a twig. How much trouble could they possibly cause? Yet Natsuki's instincts were blaring at her, urging her to exercise extreme caution, and they had yet to mislead her.

"Kouhei," Natsuki ground out, "if you will not comply with the plan, we will _not_ assist you when you get into trouble. You will be slaughtered, and the Kouton ability lost forever due to the actions of one foolish little Genin. We will report to the Mizukage that we failed to uphold our part of the bargain because someone overestimated his abilities. Are we clear?"

Kouhei looked torn for a moment before deciding to heed Natsuki's words. This time. While these Genins seemed quite weak, he'd be overnumbered six to one without his teammates' assistance. An ambush could easily even up the numbers, and he did have the powerful _Kouton_ at his disposal, but mishaps were known to happen even in the most foolproof of plans. If he did follow her cowardly tendencies, on the other hand, he would be able to wave this incident in the future and flaunt the fallacy of her so-called instincts before her if ever -_whenever!-_ she claimed to have some premonition in their shared future. "Yeah, yeah; we'll do things your way this time again."

Natsuki held his gaze for a moment longer before turning her attention back to the hut. She declared her illusions ready three handseals later, and Kouhei set about to complete his portion of the plan. A boulder of earth raised at a flick from a stomp, and a grunt of effort preceded its transformation into metal. Kouhei focused further his power over Darkness and used it to create more steel and stretch the screeching lump of metal until it covered the entire surface of the wall and then sent in a protrusion from under the door until it connected with the metal floor inside the wooden cabin, biting his tongue the entire time to help focus his attention on the task at hand. The ninja released a sigh when it was done and grinned: the hard part was over. He now stepped into the metal palm-first and became one with his creation.

And just as he predicted would happen, his metal spears pierced through the walls and into the hearts of his targets even as cuffs emerged from the ground and restrained the entire bodies of all three resting Genins. Kouhei smiled, and then his targets smiled back before poofing away from reality.

* * *

Naruto was glad he'd taken Sakura's advice even further and sent in a few teams of shadow clones in various directions. That Kouton was one mean ability! Fortunately, with his newfound knowledge, Naruto learned of the safest path to the Hokage's Tower and signalled for Sakura to follow him. They would hopefully not encounter any resistance: he was now nearly spent.

* * *

The first sign of trouble came when Kouhei grumbled. In truth, though she felt she was missing something, some crucial detail, Natsuki had expected Kouhei to simply slaughter their targets. Who wouldn't, after what he'd gone through? Yet Kouhei refrained from displaying the rowdy gleefulness his teammates had come to associate with victories, and grumbled instead in a low voice. Soon enough, the metal sheet doubling the walls receded down into the earth and Kouhei appeared before them. "Those Konoha wussies! They made fools of us. Fools!"

There was nothing left but mist behind Kouhei, and Natsuki couldn't help wondering what had so dampened Kouhei's spirits. "What happened?"

"_Kage Bunshins_; all of them damned _Kage Bunshins_."

"_Kage_? Six _Kage Bunshins_? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, of course I'm sure," snarled Kouhei. "Those cowards just disappeared into smoke; what else could it be?"

"But isn't _Kage Bunshin_ supposed to be an extremely draining jutsu, one that could kill Genins from chakra exhaustion? And isn't supposed to be kept a secret?" wondered Yuudai. "If so, how did they manage to make six?"

"Hell if I know, but one thing's for sure: they were weaklings!"

"Kouhei!" Though he still grumbled, Natsuki's sharp call was enough to prevent the rant from fully forming. "How easy were the clones to catch?"

"Bah! Barely worth the effort to move."

"All right. _Kage Bunshin_ is indeed an extremely chakra-demanding technique, but the clones are as good as the original in terms of _taijutsu_ and _ninjutsu_. If their clones were that easy to dispatch, I think stamina will be their main asset. It is possible they were misleading us, but I think that unlikely if they can make that many clones. We should still be able to easily defeat them as long as we don't waste any chakra bringing them down. I suggest we go after them and abandon this trap. What do you think?"

"About time we got a move on!"

"I agree as well."

"Wonderful. I'll be moving in front with my _Kirigakure no Jutsu_ and a cloaking _genjutsu_, Yuudai will be right behind me. Kouhei, I want you to be the rear guard with your steel hidden beneath your cloak and ready to use at any moment. When we attack, Yuudai will draw their attention and Kouhei will spear any who aren't careful enough. Everyone clear?" After both of her teammates nodded, Natsuki ordered, "Let's go!"

* * *

"I still say you should put up a perimeter of clones around us."

"Ne, Sakura-chan, I'm getting tired too. That was a lot of clones I made just to get to Sasuke, y'know, and even more to scout for us."

Sakura bit her lips in self-reproach, as she _did_ know. While she doubted even Naruto himself could tell exactly how many clones had been put up just to shield Sasuke while everyone worked on untangling themselves from Gaara's clutches, even she could tell that very few ninjas could have survived using that tactic, much less efficiently scout their path afterwards using yet another cloud of clones. Yet with both members thus exhausted, it would have been more reassuring if they had a safety blanket weaved around them. "Sorry, Naruto. I guess I was just worried. We're both tired, and Sasuke can't fight at all."

"It's alright, Sakura-chan. I guess I also feel the same way, but I'm afraid I might collapse if I did just that. But I guess having a few clones around wouldn't hurt."

"Thanks!"

The two travelled once more in silence until Naruto could feel his hairs raising on the back of his neck. "Sakura-chan," whispered the blond without breaking his stride or turning his head, "I think we're being followed. What do you want to do? Delay them with the shadow clones and ambush them later on, or ambush them now?"

Sakura paused before answering, taking in their surroundings carefully. "I don't know. They feel pretty strong. I don't think we can take them on; not in our current states. Unless we have an ambush, but it would be hard to do while moving forward. If we stopped to set up a trap, they'd know for sure and we'd lose the element of surprise."

"But I can hear them coming this way, so we have to figure out a way out of this. Or," Naruto added with his mischievous grin firmly in place, "we could do what I usually do in pranks and lead them straight to the Ame camp."

Sakura couldn't help the smile tugging at the corner of her lips despite her physical and emotional exhaustion. Who would have guessed she would one day be so grateful she had Naruto the prankster as her teammate? "Lead away, then!"

And the tracks of six Genins suddenly veered off visibly to the right while a more subtle track, carefully concealed just so, baited their pursuers with their own cleverness.

* * *

"Stop."

"What is it now, Natsuki-_hime_?"

"Shove your sarcasm, Kouhei. I'm confused."

"I think they noticed us and simply gave out false tracks in a hurry."

"Those idiot tree-huggers, not even good enough to lay down traps properly!"

"That's why I'm confused. If they could detect us, they must be more skilled than to leave such a blatant trap behind. In fact, _that_ is probably the real trap. We'll go to the right."

"Don't tell me you think those Konoha bozos are actually that smart!"

"Kouhei, need I to remind you that you would have had us revealing _all_ of our abilities to them earlier?"

"And do I need to remind you that you made us wait until they're almost gone before we chased them by setting up your little ambush?"

"Better to have missed them then to reveal all our abilities. And in either case, if they're smart enough to cause either scenario to come to pass, I'd say they're definitely smart enough to think up this little stratagem, don't you?" Natsuki set out at a brisk pace, unwilling to wait for the _Kouton_ user to respond, and soon she could feel five chakra sources blazing within her mist, and discerned the form of a sixth ninja being carried by two Genins.

"All right," the kunoichi called out softly to her teammates. "They're now in range. Yuudai, are you ready?"

"Sure am!"

"Kouhei?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just get the show going already!"

"Alright, let's go!"

Yuudai exploded in a full sprint as soon as he heard the signal, splintering tree branches as he rushed into a tackle with the nearest opponent. To his surprise, however, the body underneath him exploded into smoke in mid-air, leaving the Kiri Genin unable to control his fall until he grabbed a nearby branch while flailing about. His long hours of practice had honed his reflexes enough that Yuudai was able to swing about in mid-fall, using his downward momentum to fly right back to his previous position. His elation rapidly decreased when he regained view of the situation, however. His teammates were caught inside a pincer formation, with two Konoha nins suddenly looking very sharp on one side and two others (along with the injured one) on the other side.

Yuudai weighed his options, taking his time as he knew that Kouhei could temporarily keep all five assailants at bay, though there was no reckoning on his disposition afterwards. He could join them and attempt to overpower all of the Genins. Unfortunately, their prospects in this scenario would not be very pleasant, as the Konoha nins were much better trained than they had let on and quite worthy of Natsuki's caution given their thorough misdirection as to their true abilities. Currently, they were scampering about the trees as skillfully as any squirrel, one with enough grace to match Yuudai's own calculated strides. This was in sharp contrast to their expectations, whereby these Konoha-nins would coast by the strength of their stamina.

On the other hand, it seemed they were protective of the still-unresponsive teammate protected by three Genins. Was he truly incapacitated, or was it yet another deception aimed at them? Should he attack the main group and keep clear of yet another trap? Or should he hit them at their weakest point, pressing the advantage until they gained an Earth scroll from either of the teams?

Suddenly, the choice was driven out of his hands as multiple shurikens forced him to vault over the branch above his head and glue himself to the tree trunk using his chakra. He noticed from the corner of his eyes that the volley hadn't stopped raining. Yet more projectiles would soon be on him, and he once more abandoned his perch in favor of leaping across the distance separating him from the nearest tree. He fully expected the projectile attack to cease, or at the very least lighten up. After all, Konoha ninjas were known for their softness toward comrades.

His reasoning, though solid, was unfortunately based on false assumptions, as the group he landed behind consisted of one pink-haired Genin and yet another Shadow Clone instead of one sunglass-wearing shinobi and a blond Genin. As he went down, Achille's tendons neatly severed in both heels and kunais preventing usage of his hands, he noticed how the attack immediately ceased and a frown settled on his face. Their opponents did not behave as expected -indeed, they made no sense at all! Even a measly senbon would have been sufficient to permanently remove his influence on the outcome of the exam, disqualifying his team. Yet whereas his opponent had ruthlessly shot him down even at the cost of friendly fire, dealing him with crippling but easily healed injuries, he was now ignored entirely.

Or he would have been, had the blond ninja not dropped next to Yuudai and addressed him even as he dispelled yet another _genjutsu_ by inserting his own illusion into the atmosphere. "Which scroll do you have in your possession? Or rather, we just need a Heaven scroll. Do you have that?"

"Yes; here."

"Thank you very much!" The ninja smiled briefly before retreating once again.

His confusion only grew further as he watched. Kouhei had unleashed a barrage of unnaturally fast shurikens, yet the unpredictable leaps and _Kawarimis_ of their opponents across the neverending supply of branches and tree trunks negated the advantage afforded by Kouhei's bloodline. On the other hand, the pink-haired kunoichi easily held back both of his teammates with some _Fuuton_ jutsu and the ever-useful _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_, breaking away any support they may wish to use in his escape, while the blond ninja was dedicated to the task of dispelling Natsuki's _genjutsus_ while keeping her occupied with some constructs of his own. Clearly, the Kiri team was slowly but surely losing this exchange, their advantages easily countered in this environment.

Why, then, would the pink-haired Genin remove the prone form of the ostensibly incapacitated Genin? And then, one of the two shinobis suddenly leapt away even as every single remaining Konoha Genin started making the same four handseals. A sense of foreboding overcame Yuudai. While each of the ninjas molded but a modest concentration of chakra, the eerie unison could not possibly bode well for his teammates, especially since the ninjas held onto the chakra and slowly pressed more into the jutsu. Whatever they unleashed would be a monster of the original technique: even the _Kirigakure_ could kill if overpowered enough.

Natsuki had also apparently reached the same conclusion, as she whispered her instructions to Kouhei in a sharp tone. Immediately, Kouhei shaped the metal on his back into a sphere covering them entirely, and started reinforcing the sections directly between their opponents and themselves. Within a second, the wall become an ellipsoid shape of two feet of chakra-infused steel around the equator of the spheroid tapering down to roughly an inch at the top and bottom. If Kouhei were more skillful with his chakra or if his reserves were even larger, he could have simply conjured the nigh impervious steel armor of the celebrated _Kouton_ style for both himself and Natsuki. However, he possessed neither the skill nor the chakra to claim that defensive maneuver, and thus they satisfied themselves with a metal shell.

The measures Kouhei had taken, while well in excess of the requirements for stopping most attacks expected of Genins in this situation, were simply insufficient against the Konoha nins' jutsu: it was clear Natsuki had not expected a directible wind-based attack. As such, she had ignored the possibility of the attack coming from any direction other than a straight line and therefore let Kouhei leave the top and bottom of their metal shell significantly more vulnerable than the lateral portions. Unfortunately for them, the _Repputoppa_ was extremely maneuverable and Naruto was by now a master of it. When the jutsu was released, the inch-thin metal was unable to withstand the pressure of the shredding winds, and the entire structure exploded by the increased pressure within a confined environment. Though alive, neither Kouhei nor Natsuki were in any shape to resume the fight, barely holding onto consciousness.

And then, the Konoha ninjas waved in unsettling unison before popping out into puffs of smoke. Yuudai could not hold back his expression: had they truly been fighting _clones_ the entire time?

* * *

Naruto suddenly sagged down, panting heavily. Luckily, he had just landed on a branch when it happened instead of falling down into the soil -exhausted as he was, he would be unlikely to survive the impact however soft the soil may usually seem. Sakura noted her teammate suddenly disappearing from her side and looked back in confusion and fear.

"Naruto, are you alright? Were you poisoned?"

Naruto waited three long breaths before answering. "Nah. I'm alright, just tired. My clones dispelled all at once. We defeated those Kiri nins, so we don't need to lure them into the other team's trap. By the way, it's clear that that guy was indeed the _Kouton _user. It's good we had a suspicion of that, or we could've been had by those shurikens shooting off from behind his back."

"I had really hoped we wouldn't have to face them, that they'd take the bait. But at least, they didn't press their advantage against Sasuke."

"I think that they were afraid it would be another trap." Naruto made a grimace before speaking again. "Ne, Sakura-chan, do you think you could carry Sasuke for a while? I'm getting too tired after all those clones."

Sakura looked at Naruto for a long while. In the Academy, she had believed him to be an irritating dobe, a baka who was free to do as he wished due to the lack of parents, free of respecting society's unspoken rules. Since then, though, Sakura had started seeing another side of him: the Naruto who shouldered the entire village's resentment with a grin, the Naruto who would cling onto every last of his precious people with dogged determination. For him to ask her such a task, the blond must be very near chakra exhaustion. It wouldn't do at all to fail because all three were unable to move.

"Naruto, do you think you'll be able to stay safe for a while? I can't carry Sasuke far, so I'm going to look for a camping site instead. I think we should all rest soon. It's getting late in any case, and visibility should be dropping soon."

"Sure! Thanks, Sakura-chan."

Sakura departed after a brief nod. While they were reasonably close enough to the tower, there were still the inevitable traps set by the other teams to worry about. Thus, instead of scouting in the direction of their destination, Sakura backed away from the building. It seemed fortune had once more smiled on them in their hour of need: Sakura found a hollow space beneath the roots of one particularly gargantuan tree, easily defensible and, with Naruto's improved _Repputoppa_, easy to escape from in a pinch. Relief relaxed Sakura's shoulders as she went back the short distance toward her teammate.

* * *

Kouhei groaned as he awoke. Those Konoha brats were going to pay, and pay dearly! No one among his peers had ever made a fool of him, even in as repressive an environment as Kirigakure. Indeed, he could defeat a sizable number of his Chunin superiors, and the success of the trial fight of his team against an established Chunin squad was due in no small part to his contribution. Thus, it was a new experience to be easily disposed of, despite the presence of an incapacitated ninja among his opponents. If only Kouhei had had a few more months to practice, he was certain he would be able to use the famed armor of his bloodline, one even harder and more versatile than the bland Rock version used in Iwa. With it, he could have easily crushed his opponents, even outnumbered as they were!

Though, judging from the glum looks on his teammates, he was still missing something. Already in a grouchy mood, their dark stares did not improve his disposition. "What? They got in a lucky shot, that's all!"

"Kouhei, I'd suggest you listen closely to what Yuudai has to say."

"We were not just outnumbered: we were outsmarted as well, and outfought. There were only three ninjas, at most. And that's including the incapacitated ones; the others were just clones. I think we should avoid them if at all possible. Heh! Seems Natsuki was right once again."

Surprisingly, Natsuki did not quite agree with his assessment, not completely. "I believe we're actually similar in battle strength, perhaps even slightly superior. The problem is that their _jutsus _are better suited to this environment, and they took advantage of that. Their _Kawarimis_ with the logs all around make them hard to target, and they were more familiar with fighting in a forest. So while we lost, I think it was simply a matter of being outsmarted, rather than them being freakishly strong. In any case, we should indeed avoid them. These Konoha ninjas may be even softer than their reputation would have us believe, but they definitely still have the skill and smarts to back it up, at least on their home turf."

Kouhei grumbled to himself, though he couldn't find fault with Natsuki's logic. After a while, he realized he was missing some information. "So which of them were the real ones?"

"The pink one and the injured one were definitely real ninjas. I believe the blond one would be their teammate as he took my scroll before leaping away, but I'm not too sure. I don't know if objects are transferred back to the user. If not, that could have been a _Kawarimi_."

"In any case, we should get going since we're all up. I think we should set traps near the tower. There will surely be other teams doing the same thing, but I believe we can simply plow through most of them. Kouhei could easily dispose of the physical traps while I take care of the _genjutsus_. Yuudai can keep most teams occupied with his _taijutsu_. Questions?" When no one answered, she led her team toward the tower. Thanks to their fruitless pursuit of the Konoha ninjas, they now had two scrolls to gather, and only two days and two nights to complete their task. Sleep was far from their minds

* * *

Ah! Sleep! Sweet, blessed sleep! Sakura breathed more easily when they settled down for the night. She sincerely hoped that both of her teammates would be able to move the next day. In reality, she had once more relied on her teammates to weasel them out of dangerous situations while she simply provided support, enhancing whatever it was they did with her _genjutsu_. Naruto would not complain, of course, but Sakura suspected Sasuke would probably blame her for not pulling her weight. Well, what was done was done, and she would simply have to work even harder in the future, hopefully with her teammates at her side and acknowledging her worth.

Currently, however, her objective was to recover as much of her chakra as possible before relieving Naruto from his shift. She felt guilty leaving Naruto to stand watch after he complained about being tired, yet she knew that she had reached her limit as well and wouldn't be able to perform adequately. With Naruto's _jinchuuriki_-style stamina, even standing still would be sufficient rest to recover some of his chakra. Tomorrow, Naruto would probably be back coompletely back to normal, and she was certain they would make good progress toward the tower.

* * *

The road to their destination had been surprisingly easy after a good night's sleep, even if Sasuke still hadn't woken up. They encountered the Ame Genins they'd defeated earlier, though this time the foreign ninjas were quick to let go of the _Genjutsu_ and hide themselves, not wanting a second encounter with Team Seven. The last skirmish was still too fresh in the Ame ninjas' minds.

There was also the problem of crossing the clearing to enter the tower. It was clear that whoever wished to pass the second stage would face fierce opposition in the form of mid- to long-range attack, though Naruto handily solved that problem with a shield of clones. Once inside, Sakura deciphered the riddle posted on the wall with little trouble and correctly deduced that they were expected to open both scrolls at once. Iruka popped up once they did, blinking owlishly with a mug of coffee in his hand. The Genins were just as non-plussed and both parties stood for a while, looking expectantly at the others. Finally, Naruto spoke up.

"Ne, Iruka, I thought blood was required for summonings?"

"I thought so too," chimed in Sakura.

Iruka stood still for two more heartbeats, processing the question before answering. "For animal or storage summonings, or even the fancy fire storage scroll that Jiraiya wrote, the target is located either in a separate dimension or far enough that it might as well be that way, so you'll need blood to break the barriers between dimensions. This was more like a _Shunshin_ than a true summoning, so you don't need blood for this." Both Sakura and Naruto nodded while Sasuke remained as aloof as ever. After all, it was hard to contribute in the conversation when one was still unconscious from chakra exhaustion. "So how are you guys doing?"

"Ne, Iruka, there was this guy, Orochimaru I think, who attacked us."

Iruka was suddenly alert, awoken from his slumber by the sudden chill spreading throughout his body. "Orochimaru?_ Orochimaru_ of the _Densetsu no Sannin_? Pale skin, long black hair, yellow slitted eyes?"

"Yeah, that's the teme alright."

"What happened?"

"Well," answered Sakura, "we'd just gotten a second Earth scroll from some Ame ninjas and Naruto went to relieve himself when this Kusa kunoichi jumped us." Sakura then related the sordid tale of their fight against Orochimaru, Naruto supplying the portion that happened when she was unconscious. "And then, when I woke up, there was this Konoha Genin, Kabuto, who was tending to our wounds. Oh, and I also found these seals on my forearms. I think Orochimaru put them there, but I don't know for sure. I was unconscious when that happened." Sakura almost censored out all mention of the seals on her forearms, as well as her usage of them and a quick report on their effects. After all, Orochimaru was a reviled name in Konoha, and to be associated with him, even if only through the presence of two seals he'd inscribed, was unlikely to help further her career along. However, she was aware of the danger associated with unknown seals, and with Orochimaru's reputation, she felt that this was a safer approach, her own career be damned.

"I hope you haven't used them, have you?"

Sakura grimaced. "I did, actually. Naruto and Sasuke were still unconscious, and we were attacked by an Oto team. It was either flee and leave Naruto and Sasuke for a sure death or fight them, and during the fight the seals just... randomly activated and helped me when I would have lost." After a short pause, Sakura added, "They would have killed all of us even if we gave up the scroll, so that wasn't an option."

"I guess that would force you to try even potentially dangerous seals, accidentally or not. But be careful and let the Hokage decide what to do with them before you activate them next time, would you?"

"Ne, Sakura-chan, could I look at those seals?"

For once, Naruto had a valid reason to check out parts of her body, and those parts were even exposed under normal circumstances. Therefore, she decided to turn over her wrist to let Naruto inspect her seals. Before he could, though, Iruka drew their attention back to him with a slight harrumph. "Well, you've got nearly two days before the next event. You may rest in this tower, but it you go even one millimeter beyond the building, you'll need to come back with another set of Heaven and Earth scrolls to enter. As you may have noticed," Iruka raised both empty scrolls from the floor, "these are no longer valid. I suggest you rest up. It's common knowledge that the third test is a one-on-one competition, so I thought you might enjoy the advance warning in case you didn't." Iruka then proceeded to detail the facilities within the tower that were at their disposal before wishing them luck and swirling away with a _Shunshin_.

"Sakura-chan?"

With a long suffering sigh, she offered her forearms once more to the curious gaze of Naruto. To her surprise, he looked very intently at her seals and started muttering under his breath. After a while, he looked up at her again. "Sakura-chan, did Iruka say if we have scrolls and pens available?"

Sakura blinked, and then blinked again. "No, he didn't mention those items specifically. But we're allowed in the stationery, and there should be some there. It's in room 302. Why?"

"Thanks, Sakura-chan!" Naruto bounded off the stairs four steps at a time, a wide grin plastered on his face.

It took three more breaths in complete solitude before Sakura guessed the obvious reason. "Naruto-baka! We haven't learned _Fuuinjutsu_ yet!"

* * *

Ever since that written exam, Naruto had had his curiosity piqued. Were seals really working the way he assumed they did? If so, then what were all those extra lines doing in Orochimaru's seal? It was inefficient, and wasted quite a bit of the sealer's chakra on top of degrading the performance. Was the Sannin not only so inept at _Fuuinjutsu_ but also foolish enough to believe otherwise? Perhaps there was another much more probable explanation, Naruto realized with a start: it may just be possible that Orochimaru intended for the seals to lack power, to inefficiently store chakra while keeping the portion it did accept perfectly uniform and docile, as ready to use as properly molded chakra yet subtle enough that it could serve as a surprise to the unwary.

By then, Naruto had reached his destination and was happy to note that scrolls and pen were indeed supplied for the convenience of the Genins. While he would have preferred true brushes in order to replicate the thickness of the strokes, pens carried less possibility of producing a live seal and were therefore preferable to brushes in this particular instance. Naruto sat down and was almost finished reproducing the first seal when Sakura barged into the room, nary a splinter of wood remaining from the pulverized door. "Naruto! What do you THINK you're doing!"

"Sakura-chan? I'm trying to see if-."

"You BAKA!" Her shout was vehement enough that Naruto started to cringe even before he knew the logic behind her outrage. "Why do you think we never learned _Fuuinjutsu_ in the Academy, huh? Tell me, why?"

When it was clear that Sakura was expecting an answer rather than starting off a rant with a rhetorical question, Naruto cautiously supplied, "Because of the inherent danger in trying to learn the basic-"

"Exactly! If it's dangerous enough that it got banned from the Academy and even Jonin-senseis aren't allowed to teach their students, just _**WHAT **_do you think you're doing?"

"Uh, making a mock seal to see what it looks like without a few strokes?"

"That's it exactly! You know that making seals is dangerous so why would you go about making a-... Wait, did you say mock seal?"

"Yeah, I did."

"How do you know it won't end up being a full seal? We don't even know what makes seals active!"

"Well, I'm not using chakra, I'm not drawing the real thing, I'm not using a brush, and I'm not even using any special ink. If it still ends up being a live seal, there's no way anyone couldn't have avoided experimenting with them. Plus, if this did become a live seal, there would've been no safe way to write up the theory, and therefore there would never be any _Fuuinjutsu_ master."

"I... I guess that sort of makes sense. Still, be careful, will you?"

"Sure. Ne, Sakura-chan, can I take a look at the other seal?"

Sakura hesitated, then decided that Naruto probably wouldn't do anything stupid with the information. She held out her right forearm, grudgingly, while Naruto scrunched his eyebrows together and let his gaze roam back and forth across the mysterious seal. And suddenly, his eyes met hers, guileless blue entirely too focused for her tastes. "Ne, Sakura-chan, what does _that_ seal do?"

"Huh?" For once, Sakura had to resort to the power of monosyllabic expression in order to convey her puzzlement.

"I mean, the other was sort of familiar since it looked like the chakra battery Kakashi drew for us. Even the kanji is the same in both. But this one, it doesn't look like anything, really, and doesn't even have a word in it. It's like it's just spreading chakra around, and in ways that don't make sense. I mean, it looks like it's rotating half of the chakra one way and half the other over in this portion, and in that other portion it's vibrating chakra but right after it dampens it until there's nothing left. What good would that do?" Without waiting for Sakura's answer, or more accurately, completely forgetting about Sakura's presence, Naruto plowed on. "Or, wait," Naruto scrunched his eyebrows together and cocked his head to the side, "that's- I think- Hmm... Ne, there's a kanji hidden in there, only it's crossed over and sorta divided by the other symbols. Yep, if you look closely, there's the _Gen_ kanji in there."

"Naruto, are you alright?" In truth, Sakura was indeed worried about her blond teammate. He did sustain rather serious injuries in the forest, and while he didn't seem to suffer from ill effects, his monologue suggested otherwise.

This time, though, it was Naruto who invoked a most erudite statement. "Huh?"

"Let me check your pupils. Now look at me, that's right." When Naruto's irises suddenly shrunk in response to Sakura aiming a light on them, Sakura resumed: "It seems your motor coordination is fine, and you obviously didn't have any trouble balancing or summoning chakra. How about headaches? Do you have any?" The barrage of questions continued before Naruto had a chance to respond. "Or any dizziness at all? I know that you can jump and all that, but some people can still get dizzy even while doing that. It is after all the very basis of _Suiken_. So, any dizziness? Or ringing ears? Nausea?"

"Sakura-chan," Naruto eventually managed to edge in, "Why are you asking all these questions?"

"You're talking about moving chakra this way and that, or vibrating chakra and stuff, and even hidden words where there's none. But we didn't learn even the basics of _Fuuinjutsu_, and I've scoured the entire library for any hint of practical information when we had to memorize those god-awful twists and turns of the basic seals. I'd hoped and hoped to find anything to help me with that, but in the end there was nothing at all. So I _know_ that you haven't read about it in those books you're reading, because I've read all of them already and haven't learned the least bit of useful knowledge about sealing. It follows that you must be imagining stuff when you're looking at my seals. And seeing things is a perfectly normal delayed reaction to concussions, so I'm checking for any other symptom. So, headaches? Dizziness? You know, all that stuff I said earlier?"

"Sakura-chan, I'm fine! Really! Here," Naruto quickly traced an outline of the seal in question on paper, amazing Sakura with the accuracy of the representation when Naruto didn't even bother to refer back to her forearm. "That's the seal on your right arm, right? And the part I was talking about mixing chakra up just to let it fall back is here, and that segment is what I was saying shakes the chakra and then holds it down, right? And if you look at this line here, and that and that, and this section, and combine them together, you sorta get the _Gen_ word I was talking about. I mean, of course I know that we haven't learned anything, but if you look at the explosive seal," Naruto paused to sketch the intricate design, once again reproducing a faithful copy on paper without expending much thought, "there's also this section where the passage for chakra sorta looks like a sorta roller-coaster, ya know? That's why I said it shakes it up; I don't _know_ that for sure, it just looked that way to me."

While Sakura did indeed see the resemblance between Orochimaru and Kakashi's seals, she failed to see how the 'passage for chakra sort of looks like a roller-coaster'. "Ne, Naruto, are you sure you're alright?" When Naruto looked hurt by her non-sequitur which wasn't quite one, Sakura hastened to add: "I just don't see it, but that doesn't mean it's not there or that you're wrong. I just want to make sure you're not hurt after all you did for us, you know? Being safe rather than sorry and all that?"

Naruto held her gaze for a second before shaking his head. "Ne, you're right, Sakura-chan. I was probably being stupid again. But yeah, I'm alright."

"Naruto." The seriousness in her voice drew his eyes back to her. "I wasn't making fun of you. But concussions are serious business, even with medic-nins nearby. Now that I think about it, Orochimaru also did something to you, didn't he?"

"Yeah. My chakra control went way off, remember? I think that was his fault. But I got it back under control!" Naruto gave a foxy grin. "But yeah, you're right. I should also have it checked out. Sasuke too, that chakra he used felt... wrong."

Sakura almost bashed his skull in, but then she remembered how terrible that chakra was, how oppressive and twisted, and she couldn't bring herself to summon any animosity toward Naruto even if the latter did insult Sasuke. Instead she bowed her head and agreed. "Yeah, that would probably be for the best."

"Ne, Sakura-chan? Do you know who would be the best Sealmaster in Konoha?"

"Hmm..." Sakura noted that Naruto's transparent maneuver still did distract her from her despair over Sasuke's condition. "The best there ever was in the entire world was the Yondaime, but I think he might be just outside limits. After him, there's Jiraiya of the Sannin, but he's supposedly busy on a long-term mission of national importance outside the village. Then, there's the Hokage and Homura Mitokado, both supposedly having attained the title of Sealmaster on the very same day. I think Kakashi is rumored to be competent enough to attempt the test for becoming a Sealmaster, but that he's too lazy to study _Fuuinjutsu_ properly; something about just brute-force memorizing seals and seal construction too easily to bother with learning seals the proper way and making up his own."

Naruto thought for a few seconds. "Do you know if we're allowed to meet Kakashi before the next stage?"

"Not unless he comes here. You heard what Iruka said: we're not allowed to go back out unless we fail the exam or come back in the allotted time with two more scrolls."

"I guess so. I just wish _someone_ could take a look at Sasuke."

Sakura sighed. "I know. Me too. But then again, it looks like chakra exhaustion, and we know from Kakashi during the Wave mission that he just needs rest to get better from that. I hope he'll get better before the finals, whatever they are."

* * *

The next day was spent in tense silence around their comatose teammate. They'd learned that the Suna ninjas had been the first to arrive, much as they'd expected. After that, Team Nine from Konoha arrived, followed closely by Team Eight and Team Ten. Much to their chagrin, they were the last rookie Genins of the entire test group to arrive. Nevertheless, as they'd later learned from Iruka when the latter was lounging about with his ex-students, it was the very first time that so many rookies were nominated for the exams and there was therefore no precedent for how many should pass in a single test. The statistics were not in their favor however: only Minato's team had ever passed the second test as a rookie team in the past, and that was before the introduction of inter-village exams.

It was then that Sakura suddenly remembered to ask about the proctor. "Iruka-sensei, do you know what happened to Anko-san?"

"The proctor of the second exam? I know is that she's alive and conscious, which was more than the doctors had hoped for. Anything else is above my clearance level."

Sakura looked down. "Oh. I hope she's alright."

"As we all do, Sakura. As we all do."

* * *

It was that evening that Sasuke cracked open an eyelid. Though he was cautious, Sakura had been watching him intently and caught the tiny flutter.

"Sasuke-kun! You're awake!"

At the sound of his teammate, Sasuke concluded that he was in a safe location. If it were an enemy, he would have already been dead and therefore the ruse of impersonating a teammate would have been too much trouble. "Hn," he grunted in response. "Where are we?"

"We've passed the second stage."

"What happened with those Suna nins?"

"After you exhausted chakra, Naruto jumped in and sort of... well..."

"Get ON with it! What did he do?"

"He didn't waste effort seriously attacking that Gaara, he just kept making more and more clones while trying to move you out of the clearing." Sakura played around with her skirt as she recalled the events, her eyes shifting nervously from side to side. "He held them off for a while and somehow managed to carry you half-way across to the trees, but Gaara's sand was really starting to gain on his clones. I think he was getting tired from constantly making all those _Kage Bunshins_ while Gaara didn't seem to mind the chakra he was using to move the sand. That was when Team Eight and Team Ten arrived together to help us out. Shikamaru held Gaara immobile with some shadow technique while Shino kept Gaara's sand busy. Kiba helped Naruto get you out of the clearing and away from the Suna nins. When that guy with the cat-ears wanted to follow you, Shikamaru also immobilized him. From what I was told, Hinata held off that Suna kunoichi and then Lee from Team Nine arrived. He helped Shikamaru hold her with the shadows and then knocked out Gaara's teammates before taking off with both Shino and Shikamaru."

"So you fled like rabbits?" Sakura looked up in alarm. She'd never heard the Uchiha so bitter, so biting. However, Sasuke wasn't done yet. "You guys abandoned the fight there and then? Just like the bunch of useless cowards you are! Hn. Not that I should have expected better from a sheltered little academic and the class-clown, the dobe."

His diatribe done, Sasuke turned away from Sakura even as the latter attempted to justify their actions. "But we couldn't fight! A tactical retreat was the only option possible. We were both tired from an earlier fight against some Oto Genins, and... and we couldn't just leave you in the middle of an open ground while we were fighting and..."

"How dare you! How _dare_ you insinuate that I dragged down the team! And just what did _you _do? Let me guess, you just stood on the sidelines waiting for us to do everything for you! With enough chakra, with Naruto's reserves, I could have taken down that Gaara easily. Naruto at least jumped in when I fell down against three ninjas, but you, you just... stood by uselessly. Perhaps you should give up being ninja completely, you air-headed dolt!"

Sakura was stunned speechless. She vaguely noticed herself stumbling backwards until she was at the door, and then she flung herself out of the room and into her own next door, sobs retching up from her deepest core. By the time she reached her bed, she was crying openly. She'd done all that she could during the fight, of that she was certain. She'd poured the most elaborate constructs she'd ever attempted, much more powerful than anything she'd ever attempted before. She'd determined that since Naruto could fend off both the kunoichi and Kankurou's jutsus with his clone, Gaara was the one she should concentrate her efforts on. She'd duly done that, yet the Genin was able to shrug off all her attempts without so much as blink in confusion. She'd then tried distracting him with corporeal illusions threatening to kill him, yet he had only flinched at the first attempt and ignored every subsequent one. Short of attempting to smash her way through the sand, she had been at the end of her rope. Fortunately for her, Naruto had still been able to drown the clearing with his clones by the time reinforcements had surprised them, or she would have gone out and met her end.

Yet Sasuke dismissed her as worthless. While she did acknowledge her efforts lacked results, she'd thought it acceptable as neither of her teammates had managed to scratch Gaara, and they were almost certainly among the strongest of their year. That everyone in their year had passed the second stage spoke well of their abilities as ninjas. Unfortunately, none of these thoughts brought solace to Sakura's bruised self-esteem. Thus, when Naruto came back from a ramen splurge, he heard Sakura sniffling and knocked on her door instead of entering through his own.

Naruto hard the sobbing proceed without any acknowledgement of his request, and interpreted it as an invitation to come in. Awkwardly, stiffly, Naruto opened the door and placed the chair provided by the exam committee to face Sakura before jerking down to sit. A few minutes later, he cleared his throat self-consciously. He would have asked if everything was alright, except that Sakura's behavior rendered such questions trite. A short while later, when Naruto felt that he'd been racking his brain for an eternity searching for a solution, Sakura spoke up, though the message was lost in Naruto's bumbling thoughts.

"Huh?"

"It's alright, Naruto. It's not like I have any place to complain. I mean, I couldn't even help out in any of the fights."

"What do you mean, you couldn't help out? You were holding against the Oto nins just fine when I came out to help you, and I couldn't have possibly held half as long as I did if you hadn't done all those _genjutsu_ tricks on Gaara. How did you do that, by the way? That kunai right besides his eye was a really nifty trick!"

Sakura smiled at his enthusiasm, though her mirth dampened once she recalled Sasuke's words. "But all I could do was just distract him. I couldn't even jump in because I was too weak."

"What's wrong with you? Do you think my clones really could have stood up to that much damage without you running interference? Sure, I don't know what exactly you did, but I did know that lots of the time the sand was just moving randomly towards me, without really knowing where the clones were." Apparently, some of her illusions did affect Gaara, something she hadn't known until then. "Did you really think my clones could have lasted for that long if Gaara really wanted to get me?" Naruto shuddered at the phantom feeling of sand sailing towards him, ripping through four layers of clones at a time before weakening enough to warrant retreating back to its chakra source. "Nah, you're plenty strong enough in your position. Trust me, that really made a difference. Of course, if you could jump in and help, that would be even better. I mean, you'd really kick ass if you could do that _genjutsu_ stuff while fighting upfront as well."

Sakura couldn't quite summon the will to draw in a breath. If even Naruto, her faithful moral support for all these years, criticized her combat abilities, what _was_ she doing in the Chunin Exams playing ninja? But then, Naruto spoke up again.

"Ne, Sakura-chan, what's wrong? I mean, sure, it'd be great if we had one person serve double-duty, but you're already good enough either as support or as a fighter. I mean, you held off all three Oto nins by yourself!"

"But I needed you to save me."

"Still, you took out one of them; and they weren't weaklings _and_ they outnumbered you. Why's this bugging you now? I mean, you were fine in the first test, and you were fine just two days ago right after fighting the Oto Genins. What happened?"

Sakura looked down. "Sasuke told me that I'm worthless as a ninja."

Naruto looked at Sakura, and blinked. And then, a few seconds later, he blinked again. "Wait, so just 'cause the guy who exhausted himself for no good reason told you you're worthless, you're doubting yourself?"

"But Sasuke-kun-"

"... could have taken Gaara if he'd allowed us to stand besides him. I think that weird chakra may have affected him, though it's hard to tell what's normal and what's not for him. I mean, he never says anything other than 'hn', and he never smiles or anything, so it's hard to tell."

"But we don't know what other abilities that Gaara has. Maybe he was just toying with us."

"Heh. I hadn't even thought of that. True, maybe he had other hidden abilities, but I don't think me jumping in would make him use it if Sasuke's purple fireball didn't make him use techniques other than sand. I still say we could have taken them on if we cooperated with each other. I mean, look at their teamwork: Gaara's always alone, and his teammates nearly hit each other with their attacks. Plus, we even made _Zabuza_ drop Kakashi when me and Sasuke worked together. Gaara can't be that much tougher than Zabuza, right?"

"I don't know," mused Sakura, "he didn't have sand to stop everything we threw at him."

"But he had that huge sword," countered Naruto. "But my point is that Sasuke was stupid to throw us to the side. I mean, we barely held him off long enough, and that was with us working together. And his most successful attacks were those that I helped with, so imagine what could have happened if he let me in beside him!"

Sakura turned to look at Naruto. "So that was why he had black flames?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Yeah. I know he'd be really mad at me if he knew, so please don't tell him?"

"Sure. But... black flames? Black?"

"I dunno," Naruto said with an expansive shrug. "All I know is that they turned black when my wind hit them."

"Black and hot. I mean really, really hot. Can you imagine how hot it must be to turn that much sand into glass and not suffer any significant loss of energy from the conversion process? At least, not enough to shift the spectral signature of the flame?"

Naruto blinked, slowly processing through the scientific jargon. In the end, he could only reverse-engineer the fact that somehow the flames hadn't lost too much heat after melting the sand. Which was, admittedly, rather impressive, even if he missed the details of the process supporting the hypothesis. "That's one really powerful fire, isn't it?"

"Yeah, you could say that."

"See, you always help with those as well, not just with your _genjutsu_. And as I said before, you're plenty strong already. I mean, you not only survived whatever big jutsu the Oto Genins used that caused an earthquake, you took out one of the three on your own, without support."

Sakura blushed. "Actually, I caused that earthquake." She just barely repressed the urge to giggle at Naruto's gobsmacked expression. "I'd taken out the two shinobis, but Kin -the kunoichi- had me disoriented with her bells. _Genjutsu_ based on sound rather than the sonic disruption of the inner ear as her teammate did, I think. In any case, she was gloating while I gathered chakra, and when I had enough, I punched the ground with the chakra and let it explode. That threw her off and dispelled the _genjutsu_, but that also woke up one of the shinobi. Luckily you also got up."

"So wait, you said that you just gathered chakra and hit with it?"

"Basically, yes. But I had to hold it all in until the last moment, and I have to expel all of it in one shot, not just the gradual release we use for jutsu, even the _Katon_ jutsus of Sasuke. It's like an explosion, only it's an explosion of chakra and not fire or shrapnel."

Naruto stared at her with admiration. "See? If you could practice doing that, you'd have a powerful offense as well, not just standard Academy stuff on top of your _genjutsu_ stuff." When Sakura blushed, Naruto felt relief flooding through. While he'd known Sakura felt inadequate in comparison to her teammates, he'd never seen her react this blatantly to her insecurities. He'd also never wanted to hurt Sasuke as much.

* * *

In the afternoon one day later, everyone was startled when Anko's voice suddenly blared out across the entire tower. "Alright, examinees, it's now been five freakin' days. Get on with the show and move your asses to room 301 in the Academy. That's where you took your first test, for the dipshits too stupid to remember. Be there in five minutes or don't bother coming at all."

And just as suddenly, the connection broke off and everyone sped in a mad dash against the clock. It was impossible to expect even seasoned Chunins to make it to the Academy in five minutes, though no one was willing to admit defeat so soon. Half an hour later, all of the Chunin hopefuls had gathered once again in the large auditorium.

If the proctor (someone who introduced himself as Hayate Gekkou) noticed their tardiness, or how out of breath they were, he didn't show. He seemed more interested in coughing at random moments, racking coughs that left everyone wondering whether he'd survive the day, or even the next hour, in his ill health. "All right, listen up. It seems that this year has too many talented people participating. So I'll have to cut down even more. There will be a preliminary tournament of one-on-one matches determined at random until there are exactly eight people left. Since we now have eight teams, there will be sixteen matches. There's no guarantee that everyone will fight, or even that it won't be one person eliminating sixteen opponents, as this is a completely random draw. The fight will end when the proctor (me, in case you were wondering) says so, usually when one person is unconscious, forfeits or dies. If the winner still fights on after I end the match, that person will be eliminated. Questions?"

Kabuto raised his arm, inadvertently drawing attention to his bandaged hands and torn sleeves. "May I quit now?"

Gekkou narrowed his eyes. Wasn't he a medic-nin, according to Ibiki-san? However, it would indeed cut down on the preliminaries, and also enable ANBU to tail him more efficiently. "Yes, you may. Anyone else want to quit? You should be warned that everything is now on an individual basis, so you can't count on your teammates anymore."

At his words, Sakura positively trembled in apprehension, remembering the dress-down Sasuke had given her. But then, a warm hand settled on her shoulder, and she looked at Naruto, also replaying the conversation they had had. While she still couldn't reliably duplicate the huge crater she'd created when fighting the Oto nins, her taijutsu was now something quite formidable -even a single hit would be sufficient to knock out most Genins. Thus, when Kabuto's teammates joined him, she stayed firmly in place. To everyone's surprise, Kankurou also forfeited his chance, mumbling about having depleted his weapons.

"Umm... Anyone else want out?"

After looking at one another, Dosu and Zaku also retreated, as well as Natsuki. From the dark looks she sent Konoha's Team Nine, it seems she'd run into them as well while hunting for scrolls.

"Last call for anyone who isn't comfortable." The Ame team suddenly lifted their hands in unison. It seemed from the way their eyes shifted from Team Seven to the remaining member of Oto team that the competition did spook them after all, and they quickly left even before Gekkou completed his latest coughing bout. "... Um, if everyone here is staying, we'll start the preliminaries. But first, I need to introduce the rules."


	13. Ch12 Chunin Exams, Preliminaries

Sakura was surprised by the ease with which Shikamaru had secured a win against Kin. Having fought against her, the pink-haired Genin could attest to her strength and tactical mind -yet Shikamaru made it seem as if the most substantial hurdle was staying awake long enough to end the match. Sakura was glad she wasn't Shikamaru's opponent: he would have made very short work of her. The current fight, one between Tenten of Team Nine and Temari from Suna, had so far been dominated be the foreign ninja. Tenten was ostensibly a long-range weapons specialist, though her skills were offset by Temari's _Fuuton_ jutsus. Yet when all seemed lost after Tenten's guided weapons from her _Soushouryu_ failed to surprise Temari, the Konoha kunoichi smiled before dropping the wires allowing her to remotely control her projectiles.

"I have to admit an unfair advantage over you," she declared much to her opponent's surprise. "You see, I was warned about your winds, and I know that the Three-Moon stage of your fan can be quite destructive. If I hadn't prepared beforehand, I would have most likely lost to you at this point, and so I'm making a point to congratulate you on your strength. However, I'm afraid you're the one who will be eliminated today."

And with that declaration, Tenten retrieved a single naginata from the discarded weapons even as Temari scoffed at her actions. "Words won't get you anywhere, girl. You still can't get close to me with that!"

Sakura agreed with Temari's assessment: if Tenten couldn't even approach her opponent and her long-distance tactics were nullified, there was no hope for Tenten, regardless of whether or not she had prior knowledge of Temari's _Fuuton_ jutsus. Even worse for the Konoha ninja was that Temari had yet to launch one of the offensive jutsus Sakura had witnessed in the clearing. Yet if Tenten was aware of the odds stacked against her, she showed no sign of it as she raced full-tilt towards the Suna kunoichi. Temari seemed torn between boredom and outrage -didn't the match so far teach Tenten anything? And so Temari once more gathered chakra in her fan and waved the weapon to blow her opponent away, this time lacing the winds with properly molded elemental chakra.

The results were spectacular: the concrete wall behind Tenten crumbled in a shower of dust, only the weak chakra reinforcements preventing complete destruction of the structure. Tenten, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen. Temari narrowed her eyes and scanned her surroundings before suddenly jumping away, waving her fan to increase the height of her jump. It seemed Tenten had hidden herself as a weapon some time during the fight with a _Henge_ while keeping a _Bunshin_ standing in her place, and slowly snuck up on the Suna kunoichi. It was with but a hair's breadth that Temari avoided the hail of shurikens flying towards her, having been denied sufficient time to charge a _Fuuton_ blast to knock away the weapons.

When she landed, the kunais headed in her direction forced her to shield herself behind her battle fan.

Temari growled. This was the very first time any kunoichi had forced her to reveal all three moons simply to shield herself from mere weapons. This match would end now! First, she sent a fully-charged _Fuuton_ blast, consequences of wrecking the hall be damned. The result, however, was rather unexpected: rather than either succumbing to the blast or dodging out of the way, Tenten resisted the blast by cocooning herself inside a metal dome. Thus brought back to her senses, Temari now folded back her fan and held it like a staff, even as she prepared enough chakra for a more traditional use of her weapon. As soon as the dome dispelled, Temari let loose a _Fuuton: Daitoppa_ that diverted the weapons predictably sent her way. This time, however, Temari kept her battle fan folded and waited for Tenten to appproach. The latter readily complied, all too happy to nullify the advantage her opponent enjoyed at long range. However, when the fight did start, Tenten found herself hard-pressed to defend against the expertly wielded fan-turned-club.

During a lull, Temari gloated, "Hah! Didn't expect that, did you? We are trained to wield the fan as a _taijutsu_ weapon even before we learn the very first thing about _Fuuton_ jutsus. Getting in close was your mistake, not your salvation!" And with that, the two kunoichi tore at each other once more.

Slowly, strike by strike and dodge by dodge, Tenten started listening to her opponent's rhythm, much as she had been taught by Gai and learned by sparring with two _taijutsu_ freaks every day. As Tenten became attuned to Temari's peculiar style, she spent less and less effort in her own movements, knowing instinctively to dodge the butt-end of the fan that struck right after a roundhouse kick, and blocking the elbow that allowed the Suna nin to reclaim the extended weapon before ducking underneath the edge of the fan that swung down in a diagonal. Just as she was about to hop over the sweep, however, Temari opened her fan instead and blasted out with the pent-up _Fuuton_ chakra, showering the Konoha kunoichi with a generous dose of cuts and bruises. Tenten was knocked unconscious even before she fell down.

After the referee managed to prevent Tenten's death by impalement from the weapons strewn around the floor during the match, a doctor confirmed that Tenten would survive the point-blank _Fuuton_ blast she'd received and should make a full recovery, even if she would be out of commission for the remainder of the exams. It seemed Temari was much more merciful than her attitude implied, after all: the jutsu used could have easily been a deadly one, instead of one that simply hospitalized Tenten for an estimated two months.

* * *

The only ninja-fight Naruto had ever witnessed on the sidelines was the first one between Kakashi and Zabuza. Even then, he'd had to fear for his own life, as well as keep an eye on their client. Now, on the other hand, he could unwind and watch how others fought in full-on ninja matches, rather than the _taijutsu_-only or _ninjutsu_-only bouts they'd held at the Academy. Of course, he couldn't quite relax just yet; not when his own was yet to come. Nevertheless, this was the first time he'd had to objectively observe how others would mesh their ninja skills together.

The first match had been an utter disappointment. Shikamaru and Kin had gone at it for barely over a minute when Shikamaru used that same jutsu he'd used on Gaara to hold Kin, right before knocking her out. The second match had been much more entertaining. Watching Tenten's carefree handling of projectiles had hardened Naruto's resolve to strengthen his own skills, whereas Temari's off-handed use of _Fuuton_ reminded him of the road yet untouched before he could claim true mastery over his existing jutsus, particularly the _Kaze no Teisei_. In the end, Temari won with enough skill to prevent killing Tenten, a much more difficult proposition than slicing her opponent to ribbons.

The match that followed should prove even more interesting, reflected Naruto. Assuming that neither Chunin hopeful had changed too drastically since the Academy, Shino and Kiba were polar opposites in temperament. Whereas Shino had maintained the legendary Aburame level-headedness even while occupying Gaara's sand with expert manipulation of his kikkai symbiotes, Kiba and Akamaru had been noisy in their efforts in keeping Kankurou at bay, energetic and emotional. In both cases, however, their primary objective was not to defeat the opponent, but rather to secure the retreat of the entire group. Currently, though, neither were hampered by such considerations, and thus could showcase their abilities to the fullest extent.

"Inuzuka Kiba versus Aburame Shino. Begin!"

As one, the two members of Team Eight stomped a cloud of dust in a rush to meet their opponent. Kunais clashed with each other in the middle of the road before Shino was forced to retreat lest he be bitten by Akamaru. As a upstanding Konoha ninja, and especially as a fellow member of Team Eight, he knew better than to underestimate ninkens, even if said ninken was otherwise an adorable puppy who goofed off regularly during their missions. Kiba, on the other hand, was freed by the dog, and wasted no time before seizing the opening left by his opponent. Though his kunai throw was neatly dodged even as Shino lifted one foot out of Akamaru's reach, Kiba was not so easily discouraged. The latter leapt after the retreating Genin, and having divested himself of the kunai, the Inuzuka lashed out with his fingernails as a weapon -fingernails that had been genetically enhanced through selection over countless generations and carefully manicured with little-understood chakra transfers between ninja and ninken.

Shino immediately back-tracked three more steps, never losing sight of his opponent and still as calm as ever despite gaining parallel gashes on his coat whereas Kiba was unharmed. Kiba grinned as he noted the direction of the match: he'd bag this in no time! Or so he thought, until he inserted a hand into his ninja pouch.

"Gah!"

Instead of retrieving the soldier pills he was sure he'd brought along, there were three spheroid shapes writhing in his hand. Kiba reflexively opened his fist when he saw the black masses, allowing the kikkai-coated soldier pills to fly to Shino.

"I believe it would be in your best interest to surrender, Kiba. Why? Because there are kikkai insects inside your jacket, and they will drain your chakra soon enough. You now no longer have chakra pills to replenish your chakra stores."

"But how? I mean, I should have been able to smell them get close!"

"It would not be wise for me to divulge the secret in the current situation, as there are many potential opponents watching. Doing so would only undermine any subsequent fight I will have. If you really wish to know, I believe it would be acceptable to reveal some clan secrets to a fellow Konoha clan member in private." The statement made Naruto pause. It was a concern he hadn't yet realized: the preliminaries would reveal whichever techniques he used to his fellow finalists. Hopefully, he'd be able to scrape through with only the bare minimum of jutsus. Now, though, Shino was speaking once more. "Do you yield?"

"Heck, no!"

And thus started a new round of fighting. However, unlike the first exchange, Kiba was now frantic enough in his efforts to swing wildly and wastefully, whereas Shino simply tagged more and more of the kikkai symbiotes on his teammate with each contact. Eventually, without the boost of soldier pills, Kiba was forced to kneel down panting. "Fine, fine. I yield."

Naruto was forced to admit, if only to himself, that Shino's win was quite impressive. He'd managed to cope with only evasive tactics and the barest hint of the kikkai insects peeking through. While whoever faced him in the finals would be wary of bugs, the sheer number housed within his body could be a shock, as would any offensive jutsu Shino may have in his arsenal. Even better was that he subdued his opponent without inflicting grievous harm, bypassing even the hospitalization that the previous match had incurred on Tenten. Even the proctor shared the sentiment, if his slouch were any indication.

Naruto had then sat through Sakura's battle against Ino, and it had been a surprisingly even match. At first, Sakura seemed to hold the advantage when both kunoichis had restricted themselves to Academy jutsus. When Ino started using her hair traps, Sakura had countered with _genjutsu_. In the end, it was while Sakura was concentrating on yet another illusion that she made the mistake of staying in one place for too long. Ino had pounced on the occasion and succeeded in completing the _Shintenshin no Jutsu_. The Yamanaka had barely finished forcing Sakura to surrender when the latter somehow managed to boot her rival out of the pink-haired body and back where it belonged. There had been some tension while Hayate decided whether or not to accept the forfeit. In the end, the proctor decided to award the victory to Ino, leaving a heartbroken Sakura to return to the balconies with her head bowed.

'Finally,' mused Naruto. It was the blond's turn to fight, and he awaited the announcement of the second name with visible trepidation. When it came out, Naruto barely restrained his groan of disappointment. It would seem that fate wished for him to complete the fight against Kouhei. Naruto felt reasonably confident of his success. After all, while Sakura did contribute significantly with her _genjutsu_, he had been the one to disable the entire team on his own while Sasuke finished his beauty sleep. Though Naruto was now bereft of Sakura's support, so was Kouhei. It never occurred to Naruto that Kouhei had also borne the brunt of their previous encounter much as the blond had and shouldered the various surprises sprung during that encounter, and that therefore the results of this match would not be as easy to obtain as it seemed.

"Start!"

The declaration cut through Naruto's musings and startled him just enough to inadvertently miss Kouhei's opening volley of kunai with bare millimeters to spare. Naruto let his body react on its own and watched as two kunais flew towards his opponent: one high and one low. Almost as an afterthought, three shurikens also arced away from Naruto. The first one headed in a straight line, right in the shadow of the higher kunai, while the second and third curved overhead, out of view. To Naruto's surprise, Kouhei simply reached out with an open palm and frowned, concentration completely set on relaxing his body. The kunais Naruto had sent to force his opponent into dodging the shuriken simply melted upon contact and painted his body with a metallic sheen. Similarly, the other projectiles slapped harmlessly against his skin and provided Kouhei with an even greater coating of metal.

"Care to provide me with more weapons?"

Naruto's growl was feral. This was rather disturbing: either Naruto risked closing in for taijutsu, where he would be at a disadvantage since Kouhei would still be free to use weapons, or he revealed his skills with _Fuuton_ jutsu, which Naruto had wanted to leave as a trump card in the finals. Of course, to complicate matters even further, Naruto would also have to consider Kouhei's knowledge of his elemental techniques if the blond were to choose the latter option. Naruto tried to grasp at other avenues to direct this fight towards victory. There was the option of trying to close in with _Kage Bunshin_, though the Shadow Clone was also something he wished to reserve for the final exams.

Further reflection on the matter was driven out when he noticed Kouhei's right pinky twitch, driving a transformation of the blobs of metal into a katana. Whatever Naruto chose, he'd have to act on it _now_. Unfortunately, he still hadn't chosen when Kouhei thrust two kunais in Naruto's direction, forcing the latter to scramble away, diving headfirst into the follow-up barrage of shurikens. Naruto nearly sighed. Did Kouhei truly believe Naruto so weak as to fall for his own tricks? Yet though Naruto had already started moving away from the shurikens raining down on his position, he saw Kouhei smirk ever-so-slightly. The blond immediately bounded away as soon as his feet touched the ground, heedless of whether the smirk was a bluff or not.

It turned out for the best: Kouhei frowned in concentration and the shurikens morphed into senbons hurtling towards the very ground Naruto had just vacated. From then on, Naruto was forced to stay on the defensive, with nary a second to spare for launching any form of attack. Soon enough, the entire floor was littered with metal weapons, and Naruto was quickly running out of room to maneuver. And then, as he saw the cloud of shurikens heading his way, he had his answer. Too fast for most Genins to see, he formed a cross-shaped seal and was covered with smoke. When the shurikens shredded his dusty cover, five Narutos were present, each with a kunai at the ready and a smile (or was that a smirk?) on each face. With just the right strategy, he could hide his _Kage Bunshin_ as the Academy _Bunshin._

"Heh! You must be really, _really_ stupid if you still think metal's gonna work against me. But don't mind me, by all means, be my guest!" Kouhei was aware of Naruto's ability to create Shadow Clones, though he also kept in mind the _genjutsu_ he'd witnessed in the Forest. It never occurred to him that he should have been on the lookout for the _Kage Bunshin_, just as it never occurred to Naruto that Kouhei was waiting for _genjutsu_.

As before, Kouhei stretched out a hand, palm facing outward. Yet when the first kunai sailed through the air, all playfulness dropped from the Kouton user. There was an explosive tag attached! The explosion would be fierce enough that the Kiri ninja couldn't afford to guess whether it was an illusion or not. However, there wasn't enough time to erect a sufficiently thick metal wall from the discarded weaponry, much less an earth one with a jutsu. Kouhei threw his own weapon even as he hurried to one side and started summoning as much metal as he could. Kouhei allowed himself to breathe in relief behind his makeshift shield as the kunai poofed out of existence as soon as the two projectiles met in mid-air. Now that he was warned, he would be wary of all kunais Naruto would send his way. But when he looked back at Naruto, his dread renewed. In the time the diversion took place, at least fifty clones now surrounded the blonde, each with a kunai ready for use. There was no way Kouhei could filter out the true threats from that many weapons.

In his training, he had once encountered a similar situation; one where his sensei had thrown countless kunais, each wrapped with explosive tags. After, in a Hidden Village as averse to _kekkei genkai_ as Kirigakure, one could guarantee that the Jonin sensei of any Kouton users (legitimately a Kiri-nin or not) would dredge up countless scenarios where the inborn ability would be useless. He'd nevertheless turned that around by first erecting a steel wall and then reinforcing his defensive perimeter with the steel from the kunais. The trick worked, if only because the explosions didn't quite occur simultaneously, and therefore the increase in metal mass was sufficient to counter the shockwave. However, this particular usage, where only one true kunai would be thrown, was not covered. Thus, his solution to that particular problem would not apply here. After all, a single kunai would be unlikely to shield him sufficiently from the charge.

And then, Kouhei noticed how the ground -the entire surface of it- was ground dirt. Earth! Therein was his salvation: Kouhei immediately sent chakra down into his feet and molded it with his special chakra to produce metal from the earth below and promptly brought it up to form a shield. Just in time, too: it seemed Naruto had been astute enough to include live weapons along with the illusionary ones and the ones with an exposive tag, if the repeated collisions were any indication. As the barrage continued, Kouhei was glad that Naruto was finally learning his place. Judging by the increasing number of wayward projectiles that missed his shield completely, it would seem that Naruto was getting desperate. And then, suddenly, there was a puff of smoke from Kouhei's unprotected left flank. He immediately rolled to the side and shifted his shield to accomodate the new threat, whatever it may be.

It was fortunate for Kouhei that Naruto didn't have any poisonous gas at his disposal, as the very possibility had escaped from the Kiri nin's mind. Instead, the metal shield only partially protected him from a cut from a kunai. As soon as the pain registered, Kouhei vaulted away from his shield and towards the hail of projectiles, just in time to escape death by explosion while keeping his concentration on morphing the stream of projectiles. It seemed this Naruto was perhaps more than he seemed, after all. Very few could boast such results against him without resorting to advanced offensive jutsus!

Kouhei had assumed that the remaining projectiles were of no threat to him, as the explosive tag had been spent. What he didn't take into account was that Naruto, consumate prankster that he was, constantly kept a full stash of explosive notes, smoke bombs, water-soluble paint and super-glue. Thus, when Kouhei felt a disturbance in the metal splashing on his skin, he immediately warped the metal around the disturbance. His caution was vindicated when he felt the detonation inside the metal shell, the physical shock enough to send shrapnels hurtling towards one flock of orange. The clones immediately burst into a cloud of smoke.

Kouhei turned towards the remaining group. "You know, I'll admit that was pretty smart, to have two groups of clones hang back instead of spread around everywhere, especially when your technique is so awful that the clones disperse into smoke at the first disturbance. That way, you could hide with one group, or hide somewhere else, and the smoke would hide everything. But now it's over!"

Kouhei accompanied his declaration with a flurry of shurikens. While he wasn't adept enough with Kouton to properly mold metal from this distance, he did have enough affinity to guide the shurikens along a rough path, and to shapeshift the metal in mid-flight. The projectiles obeyed his command and slammed into the remaining group with greater success than Naruto had expected, raising a second cloud of dust. By the time the paint bombs went off, it was far too late for Kouhei to realize his mistake: he couldn't see inside the smoky cover whereas Naruto could locate his position by the fluorescent markers stuck on him. Kouhei was forced to protect his eyes and nose with his arms, as the attack didn't leave him with the necessary time to raise a shield. A second poof occurred exactly then, but instead of either paint or fire spilling forth, it was... glue. Super-glue, to be precise. As Naruto had studied in extensive detail, the particular brand of adhesive he chose reacted with the specific thickening agent in the paint to immediately create a chakra-resistant coat that now bound Kouhei in place.

The final nail in the coffin came when the latter felt a rectangular object slap itself onto his arms. His first instinct was to remove the offending intruder. Were he a Hyuuga or a taijutsu-specialist, such an endeavor would have been but child's play. Unfortunately, neither his chakra nor his strength were sufficient to overcome the restrictive material binding his arms together, and Kouhei frantically wriggled his limbs to get free. Unfortunately, he could no more free his arms than he could form seals to _Kawarimi_ or _Shunshin_ out of his predicament. By the time he realized this, it was frighteningly close to the two-second period between the activation of an explosive tag and its detonation, which left him with only one avenue to pursue.

"I yield! I yield!"

"Heh! Thought so!"

"I YIELD!"

"Ne, didn't you just say that?"

It was at that point that Kouhei noted how the proctor's cough was suspiciously similar to giggles, and that more then three seconds had passed. Kouhei sighed. "There never was an explosive tag, was there?"

"Huh? How did you guess?"

"..."

"Ne, if you want to get that glue and paint off, just wash with water."

As Kouhei was carried away from the exam grounds, he was glad that Konoha nins were as weak as they were. Against any other opponent, his one moment of distraction would have been rewarded with death instead of utter humiliation. To his surprise, water had indeed been sufficient to remove the thrice-damned rubbery coat, though he was drenched to the bone by the time the medics were through. The tongue-lashing he was bound to receive was also a source of irritation. The worse by far was his self-flagellation: he should have known better than to simply poke his opponent away. As it was, Kouhei was defeated with only standard Academy techniques supplemented with a weak material clone, despite wielding the Kouton against his opponent.

Naruto, on the other hand, basked in the glow of his achievement. Kouhei had turned out to be a surprisingly challenging opponent, though clearly he still hadn't mastered his _kekkei genkai_ as firmly as Haku had the Hyouton. Nevertheless, Kouhei had managed to shock Naruto with some new techniques. Thinking once more of Kouhei's casual handling of all metal weaponry, Naruto turned to Kakashi.

"Ne, Kakashi, Kouhei didn't use that metal-melting ability in the Forest. Why?"

"Hm? You fought him in the Forest?"

"We did, Kakashi-sensei," chimed in Sakura. "As Naruto just said, he didn't use that ability, even though Naruto's clones kept peppering him with metal projectiles."

"And what did you do, Sakura?"

"I..." Thinking once more of Sasuke's rant, Sakura felt shame creep up again. "All I could do was sit on the sidelines and hit them with _genjutsu_ whenever possible."

"Ne, Sakura, you also released that kunoichi's illusions, didn't you?"

"Sakura." Kakashi waited for his student to turn her attention onto him before proceeding. "I believe that you may have saved the three of you with your _genjutsu_."

Naruto was as eloquent as his teammates were used to. "Huh?"

"It seems Kouhei needs intense concentration to 'metal-melt', as Naruto put so gracefully. With your _genjutsus_, you distracted him just enough that 'metal-melting' would have been dangerous for him. If you hadn't, it is quite possible that they would have gotten the better of you."

At that point, Hyuuga Neji's voice, strident and hard, cut into their private discussion. "I repeat once more. Yield before you are injured, or cheat with the Forbidden Seal. But do not waste my time, or the proctor's, with this farce of a match."

"I... I won't g-give up." Though Hinata stammered her reply in a much softer voice, it still caught Naruto's attention more effectively than the imperious tone Neji adopted.

"Fate has decreed that you either fall before me or reveal the Forbidden Seal to other nations. In either case, you will be unable to proceed further. I urge you to uphold your fate and save yourself the trouble of suffering through this nonsense."

"Hinata-chan! Kick his ass! C'mon! You can do it!"

At Naruto's proclamation, Hinata looked up and could scarcely believe the sight that greeted her. Naruto cheered her on -of all the people, Naruto believed in her! Though she would have fainted on any other occasion due to the warmth suffusing through her at the thought of Naruto (Naruto!) standing on her side, the situation was grave enough that she retained her motor control.

Neji didn't miss the rush of blood to her cheeks. "Oh? How appropriate. The dead-last of the Hyuuga clan, the reject heiress, falls for the dobe of her class. After all, misery loves company, doesn't it? I place my offer once more. You are clearly uncertain of your worth. Your eyes betray your meekness. You know you cannot win this exchange, not without cheating. And you know just as well that you cannot cheat -even if you wished to, even if you dared defy the Clan's prohibition, even if you wanted to win, you are too weak to do what must be done, to impose your will on the Seal. I ask you again: what do you think you're doing in this exam? Forfeit now, and save yourself from injury. You are far too weak to take the exam now, just as you'll be far too weak to ever defeat me. Fate has decreed that you fail to proceed to the finals -just accept your destiny, and step down while you are still intact."

"How DARE you, teme? Who are you to insult Hinata-chan? Hinata, just kick his ass!"

Kakashi decided to intervene before Naruto humiliated himself further. "Naruto, things are a bit more complex than they seem."

"Huh?"

"While Neji's behavior is indeed deplorable, they are family."

"Then why did Neji say all those things to Hinata?"

"As I said, things are a bit complex. To cut a long story short, Neji hates Hinata but Hinata still loves and respects Neji as a cousin."

Naruto scrunched his face, deep in thought. "How does _that_ work?"

Kakashi's angelic eye-smile provided the answer even before the masked Jonin spoke. "It doesn't. And it doesn't matter whether it works or not. All you have to do is watch the match. After all, you could have to fight one of them, since you're in the finals."

"Oh. Right."

And by then, the match had started. Both fighters had veins bulging around the eyes where smooth skin had covered their faces when Naruto had last looked. Before he could ask Kakashi about this phenomenon, Hinata and Neji lunged at each other and initiated an intricate dance, frenetically thrusting with open palms and slapping the other's attacks in quick succession. Both contenders stood with a wide base, pairs of feet as solid as rock and immovable as mountains, and neither willing to concede ground to the opponent. Until, suddenly, Neji slapped Hinata's upper arm, and the latter wheeled away, retreating with distance, though not without attempting a parting shot of an open palm.

"Ne, Kakashi," asked Naruto, taking advantage of the slight lull in the match, "why are they only slapping each other and not actually hitting?"

"Baka Naruto!" The blond cringed at the sound of Sakura, "Didn't you learn that in the Academy? Iruka said that the Gentle Fist is the most dangerous style, and that it uses chakra rather than fists to strike."

And while Naruto _hadn't_ learned that in the Academy, he did read about the Gentle Fist in the _taijutsu_ textbook Ebisu had given him. From what he could remember, the _Jyuuken_ style was mainly a defensive style, designed to complement the use of the _Byakugan_. Thinking back on the book about common _kekkei genkais_, Naruto suddenly recalled how the _Byakugan_ required extensive chakra and blood supply to the eyes, which explained the presence of the veins Naruto had observed. What he hadn't known, however, was that the style centered around the palm strikes rather than physical blows.

Currently, though, his attention was drawn back to the fight. While Hinata had seemed to withdraw after the hit, she had feinted a strike with an open palm. Neji had apparently earned his reputation as a genius, for he did not even flinch as that palm sailed close to his own upper arms before retreating back towards Hinata even as the latter surged forth once more. Had he attempted to press his advantage, he would have been kneed in a most sensitive area. As it was, though, he patiently waited for Hinata to propel her limp arm forward until she could strike without lowering her guard.

And then, Hinata stepped once more into Neji's guard, and the two Hyuugas resumed their previous dance. Hinata's leading right palm to Neji's solar plexus was deflected by the back of his left hand, which then twisted to strike Hinata's open flank. The heiress twisted her hips clockwise and let the palm sail forth without making contact while seizing the momentum provided by her maneuver to flap her left palm towards Neji's face. The latter bent backwards, all the while snaking his extended left hand back to disable Hinata's right arm from underneath. However, Hinata hadn't forgotten the outstretched hand and guided the chakra burst outward with her elbow, all the while returning her hips to a neutral position.

The match continued in a similar vein, a series of aborted attempts by both competitors stretching the seconds into minutes. And then, Hinata made another mistake: she let her Byakugan falter for but a fraction of an eyeblink. In that moment, however, she was vulnerable, and Neji took the opportunity to blast his cousin away with a palm to her left shoulder. To add insult to injury, Neji simply smirked as he watched her gather her wits after the painful chakra strike, making no move to end the match despite holding a clear advantage over Hinata. Instead, Neji pummeled his opponent with words.

"Is this the extent of the power from a Hyuuga heiress? Pathetic. You are nothing but a weakling, a coward, easily defeated even when I restrict myself to the basic _Jyuuken_ that you are able to access. I see it with my all-seeing eyes: you have no hopes of winning this match. As I stated before, and as I will state as many times as necessary, you should forfeit. You lack the power to win in fair battle, and you lack the will to use the Forbidden Seal."

Instead of answering, Hinata rose slowly, painfully to her knees, and struck herself right in the place where Neji had hit her. Her goal achieved, she stood up the rest of the way and settled down into the _Jyuuken_ stance, complete with outstretched leading palm and a palm-down hand trailing behind to guard the openings left by the front hand. Neji snorted at her antics before rushing toward her, not even bothering with stance or form. As before, Hinata's palms flashed forward one after the next, yet Neji no longer bothered with the pretense of a proper _Jyuuken_ bout. He simply weaved in and out of her attacks, and suddenly his right palm snuck through her defenses and hit Hinata hard right over her liver.

As before, Hinata was propelled back while Neji maintained his position, hand outstretched and body standing awkwardly. On the ground, Hinata coughed once, a dry and percussive sound, and then coughed again. Slowly, painfully, she managed to stumble onto all fours and paused, struck by another sudden bout of coughing. Neji took his time to return to a neutral standing position, and observed Hinata struggle back to her feet with a haughty gaze. When he was certain she was able to pay attention to her surroundings, he scoffed at her previous attempt.

"Was that really the extent of your _Jyuuken_? Was _that_ it? I certainly hope not; I didn't even have to bother taking you seriously." Neji scowled when Hinata settled down once more, heedless of his words. "I'm warning you one last time, heiress. Forfeit now and save yourself some pain and humiliation. You cannot possibly win even when I stoop to your pathetic level, this much I have shown. If you persist, I shall use my abilities to their full extent."

"It d-does not m-matter, Neji-niisan. Whether or n-not you f-fight at full power I m-must do my b-best."

"Your funeral!" With a dash that left many wondering whether his sneer was real or imagined, Neji was upon Hinata, and the difference in their abilities was finally obvious. Whereas Neji had slowed himself to Hinata's speed before, his hands now blurred faster than the eye could see, managing to close all the tenketsus in each arm in the time Hinata took to launch a palm strike. To add insult to injury, Neji whirled behind Hinata and struck the tenketsu just outside the heart even before her hands had fallen down -a perfectly standard non-lethal _Jyuuken_ strike, except for substituting the usual palm strike with a chakra pulse from the elbow.

This started a vicious cycle of Neji brutally battering Hinata down, and the heiress unblocking her tenketsus with increasing difficulty and slowness. By the eighth time Hinata collapsed into a bloody heap, having suffered an even more brutal beatdown than in their previous clashes, Neji was running out of patience.

"This is madness! You cannot win. You know this. We both know this! Why do you keep getting up? Why? What use is it, when you will lose?"

Hinata retched up a pool of blood before she answered. "B-because..."

'Why indeed,' thought Hinata? Initially, it had been to emulate Naruto, whose behavior she so admired. And then, when Naruto noticed her, it had been for his approval. But at this point, there was clearly no point in prolonging this charade: Neji was simply too strong. Yet she kept getting up. Why? "Because I-I am not (cough) the only one suf-suffering (wheeze). Y-you are in p-pain, Neji-niisan. You h-hate me, you hit me, y-yet you are suffering p-perhaps more. I-I don't need my all-ss-s... all-seeing eyes to s-see that. You suffer f-from the loss of y-your father, and from the S-Seal, even w-when inactive." Hinata paused, taking her breaths while Neji reeled under the onslaught of words much more powerful than the palm strikes he'd evaded all match long. "You h-hate me, all b-because I am a Main F-Family Member, b-but I don't h-hate you, Neji-niisan."

By now, Neji had wrapped his mind around the concept of Hinata stuttering and stammering the truth of his condition -his inner turmoil, his raging emotions, his irrational hatred of the Main Branch in general and her in particular. It was not a pleasant sensation, and Neji rebelled against it. "How dare you assume you know anything -_anything_ at all!- of me, of my life?"

"I... I can s-see that y-you're suffering more th-than I. Y-you don't have to bear, sh-shouldn't have to bear y-your burden."

"My burden is my fate and my own, you wretched weakling! I was fated to be born in the Branch Family, and I was fated to bear the Seal, just as I was fated to be a genius and you were fated to be weak. Thus, Fate has decreed that I shall pass this exam and that you shall fail."

"I-it is not F-Fate, but our o-own choices and w-work. Y-you are more talented than I, b-but you also worked har-harder. A-and I will work h-hard to pass this test."

Neji snarled in response and rushed to Hinata's still-prone body. Whereas he had been careful to target soft spots, tenketsus that are easily released by the victim herself, he now struck a central tenketsu, one of those regulating the very flow of chakra to all limbs. He felt no satisfaction, no vindication as Hinata fell back once more, splattering a pool of her own blood every which way. A civilian would have died from the injuries, a ninja would have passed out, and an extremely talented and resilient Hyuuga might have stayed conscious, even if unable to move. However, just as Hayate Gekkou was about to announce Neji the winner of this absurd exchange, Hinata started moving. First a finger, then the hand before the entire forearm moved, and Hinata was propped up on her elbows.

Upon seeing her defy him once more, Neji launched himself into a frenzied attack, all _Jyuuken_ form long forgotten as he kicked whichever part of her he could reach.

The proctor had been shocked into silence by the savagery unfurling before him. A heartbeat later, twenty kicks after Neji lost his temper, common sense returned. "Winner, Neji."

As Neji was about to complete his kick regardless of the proctor's decision, Kurenai jumped down and forcibly restrained him. Neji turned towards the Jonin sensei, his face morphed into that of a snarling beast for a moment. And then he remembered his place, and that he would be disqualified if he were to relinquish control to his baser urges. Immediately, his aloofness settled back with a crash. "I thank you, Kurenai-sensei, for preventing me from disqualifying myself."

The senseless suffering Hinata had suffered made Naruto uncomfortable -it seemed she was a kindred spirit: hated for reasons beyond her sphere of influence, yet still forgiving of her detractors, and still fighting with all her soul _for _them. Unfortunately, as Naruto discovered, sometimes fortitude of character simply wasn't sufficient to overcome the barriers erected before her. Naruto resolved to meet with her and extend his friendship to her in the future. After all, having felt the effects of being shunned by the general populace firsthand, he was quite familiar with the yearnings one would develop when ostracized. While he had coped by responding with a mask of exuberance, it seemed that Hinata had chosen the opposite route and become barely more noticeable then wallpaper. Nevertheless, he of all people knew better than to assume that the mask was deep enough to unseat the human need for interaction, for belonging.

And if he could learn more about a potential finalist's fighting style on top of helping Hinata, Naruto certainly wouldn't complain.

* * *

The Hokage came down in person to greet the remaining Chunin hopefuls after the preliminaries had been completed. There had been quite a large proportion of talented Genins this year, and the Sandaime regretted having to turn down so many of them. Unfortunately, business was the law, and it dictated that only a certain number of applicants could proceed to the final round. All those who passed the preliminaries would go on to the finals according to the order in which they fought in the preliminaries. Since there was only one bye, there was no need to draw any names. The matches would be: Shikamaru/Temari, Ino/Shino, Naruto/Neji and Gaara/Sasuke.

Thinking of the last match in the first round of the finals reminded the Hokage of Gaara's match in the preliminaries. Indeed, while he regretted the need for any sort of elimination for all these talented youngsters, his misgivings were particularly pronounced for the very last match, one pitting the talented _taijutsu_ specialist Rock Lee to a probable _jinchuuriki_, Gaara. Whereas Hyuuga Neji had snapped under the weight of Hinata's words, Gaara had snapped after Lee hurt him -according to the apology given by the Suna Jonin instructor, Baki, this was the very first time that Gaara had experienced pain.

The Hokage believed it did not excuse Gaara's behavior. The latter's homicidal tendencies had been clearly recorded by the camera sweeps in the Forest, and the reports of Genins crushed to death corroborated such data. During the fight, Gaara had repeatedly attempted to inflict grievous harm to Lee, and only Lee's peculiar _taijutsu_ training had allowed the Konoha nin to evade the many tendrils of sand sent his way. However, Lee was also unable to penetrate the wall of sand that invariably blocked his own offensive. The dynamics changed when Gai ordered Lee to remove the weights the Genin constantly wore: one on each ankle, four on his waist and one on each wrist.

Few believed the handicap would have much significance, until the handicaps fell to the ground with enough force to shake the building's very foundations, creating huge craters in the process. Whereas Lee had previously shown a remarkable aptitude for _taijutsu_, easily surpassing many Chunins, he now displayed a level that would shamed many a _Jonin_. Indeed, it was clear that Gaara, who was unscathed after innumerable assassination attempts by Suna Chunins and Jonins both, was unused to being actively on the defensive. His movements were awkward and jerky, and his head swiveled every which way in a fruitless search for his opponent. Lee was simply much too fast for Gaara, and the only glimpses the Suna nin could observe occurred when Lee hit the sand with his taped hands, pain shooting up his limbs with each strike.

Yet Lee remained steadfast in his endeavor, and soon enough one particularly powerful punch broke through the veil of sand to strike Gaara. Though it was a weak blow even for Gaara, it spelled the end of the sand's defensive perimeter, as Lee pursued in his single-minded actions and confused the sand with an overwhelming number of strikes sent every which way. The attack culminated with an attack that Kakashi described as the 'Primary Lotus', but that the Hokage still thought of as an overexalted head-bashing -except that the release of the first Inner Gate was nothing to scoff at. Unfortunately for Lee, Gaara's defense wasn't restricted to the outer perimeter. The sand armor had been compressed hard enough to prevent damage to the boy until the apogee of the Primary Lotus, whereupon the outer armor cracked and Gaara received a nasty bump on the head.

It wasn't quite sufficient to knock him out, however, and the Suna nin had immediately been out for blood. Sand easily enveloped Lee, as the latter was still recovering from the effects of the First Gate, and crushed his legs to mush. Only Gai's intervention prevented further harm, though the damage was already done: none of the medics in attendance were skilled enough to provide anything further than stabilization, and none in Konoha could help him once the critical moments after injury were past. As it was, Lee's career (and his dream) were crushed along with his feet.

Even though all potential ninjas learned in the Academy learned about the hazards of the profession and were equipped with lessons to deal with disorders ranging from PTSD to grief, knowing about such matters in an abstract manner differed from learning it firsthand, and the Sandaime deeply regretted having one of the outstanding shinobi of this generation being forced to cope with this quandary. Nevertheless, the Chunin Exams had to proceed, and he now addressed the assembled crowd. He talked of the gruesome history behind the Chunin Exams, of the hypocritical facade of inter-village cooperation behind which wars were waged in the form of the Chunin Exams, of how the villages depended on their Genins to display their power in order to ensure proper funding of the village by the Daimyo and a proportionate share of missions.

The Hokage also warned them of the pitfalls of relying on one jutsu: some had displayed their best techniques to the others, while many also tried to conceal their abilities as much as possible. Whereas the preliminary tournaments were usually about juggling unknown variables to get a reasonable plan, the finals were another matter entirely as the Genins would have some prior knowledge of their opponents and prepare their training accordingly. In a similar fashion, some would have to account for their opponents' knowledge and train around such a disadvantage, or even turn the knowledge to their benefit. For this reason, and also to thoroughly circulate the time and composition of the tournament to all parties interested, a month of respite was provided before the finals started. Almost as an afterthought, the Hokage mentioned that the order of the matches would follow the random draw for the preliminaries, since only one participant had yet to fight a match.

The Hokage excused himself after informing the Genins of the time and location of the final tournament, his thoughts occupied by reports of suspicious activity in the Forest. For one, Anko herself had been subjected to a second cursed seal. While the survival rate of even one cursed seal was one in ten, that of surviving a second graft was unknown. Uchiha Sasuke had also received a bite from Orochimaru, while Sakura had had two seals placed on her. Though Sakura's seals seemed harmless enough, they must still be thoroughly investigated by a Sealmaster, which led to the third of his worries. Jiraiya hadn't answered his latest missive in quite a while, which probably meant that the spymaster had moved to another location that had yet to be secured.

Of course, he could look at the seals himself and ask Homura to conduct an independent review to compare their findings. However, neither of them were of Jiraiya's caliber, let alone that of the Yondaime, and not even Minato was able to either remove or completely contain the effects of the first cursed seal Orochimaru had placed on Anko. The counter-measures and safety guards inherent in the first cursed seal were thorough enough to baffle the best Sealmaster Konoha had ever seen, and the addition of a second cursed seal with its own separate chakra purification paths was bound to be such a minefield that the very thought of wading through the arcane symbols was sufficient to make even the Sandaime shudder.

There was also the seal on Sasuke to worry about, though it was thankfully of the same design as Anko's and therefore the counter-seal devised by the Yondaime, incomplete though it was, was likely to be sufficient. Nevertheless, only a Sealmaster could envision analyzing the seal, as there were some notable differences between the original prototype and the new version -for one, the drastic increase in the seal's potency was enough to give pause to all but the foolhardy. In addition, the Sharingan was unimpeded by this tomoe-based design, whereas Anko's primitive version clashed rather spectacularly with all _kekkei genkai_.

Unfortunately, the Sandaime couldn't afford to cater to his own whims and he had to prioritize his issues. With the advent of an unstable _jinchuuriki_, he would have to ensure the presence of a trump card provided by Orochimaru himself -Tenzou. This itself required reshuffling his shinobi around, which would necessarily rankle several of his subordinates. As emotionless as ninjas in general and ANBU in particular were assumed to be, the Hokage had learned through personal experience that such wasn't quite the case, especially in an open and friendly village such as Konoha. Though other leaders (the Kazekage came to the Hokage's mind) would have scoffed at his deferential treatment of his soldiers, the Sandaime firmly believed that Konoha's might came from such respect. After all, respect was the basis for cordial interactions, and cordial interactions were conducive to good teamwork.

And then, with a mighty sigh, the Hokage entered his office only to see his greatest fear realized -a mountain of paperwork on his desk piled into the ceiling and spilling onto the floor around. It seemed shuffling would have to temporarily take a backseat to running the village.

* * *

Kakashi was no fool, and would brook no foolishness from his subordinates, not about matters of this magnitude. He glared at the petulant child in front of him -a petulant child with a cursed seal. The Uchiha glared right back.

"Sasuke," Kakashi ground out in a bored monotone that suggested death in a dozen different ways, "you _will_ have your cursed seal contained, and you will _not_ use it ever again in your entire life."

"Unless you explain why, I will not have my cursed seal contained, and I will use it as many times as needed."

"Are you stupid? Do you remember how you obtained the cursed seal?"

"What does it matter? Before I had the seal, I was weak, unable to even annoy Orochimaru." Though Kakashi knew that such was not the case, Sasuke had already moved on. "After I received it, though, I wasn't weak, not anymore. I could easily melt sand with my flames, and my speed increased as well."

Kakashi lost his legendary apathy. "That seal is a curse! Every time you use it, you lose your control bit by bit, until we may as well call you Orochimaru's puppet." It was a low blow, and Kakashi knew it, yet he was getting frustrated by conventional means of reaching through to his student. "I thought that Uchiha were above being mindless drones?"

"What would you know of being an Uchiha? You have a Sharingan, yet you clearly aren't an Uchiha. You know nothing of the shame of having your entire clan slaughtered by your own brother! If I have to become a mindless drone to restore the honor of the Uchiha clan, I'd gladly do it!"

Kakashi was at a rare loss for words, and would have gaped openly had his mask allowed it. Given the context, Sasuke's speech was sufficient to land him a session with Ibiki on grounds of projected treason. "I'm sure you didn't quite mean the way you just phrased that, as that would leave you in Ibiki's tender mercy." Though the Uchiha didn't rescind his words, the silence was enough of an improvement for Kakashi. "Good, good. For a moment, I was worried that you didn't care if you'd be unable to avenge your clan be getting yourself imprisoned and executed like a common criminal." Sasuke's eyes flashed for a moment as the Genin forcibly repressed some choice words. "Now, since we understand each other, here's the deal. You _will_ have your cursed seal contained, and you will _not_ use it ever again in your entire life. In exchange," Kakashi cut through Sasuke's protests, "I will teach you some advanced _ninjutsu_ and _taijutsu_ for your match. After what you've seen, I'm pretty sure you'll need it."

"The cursed seal would increase the attacks from advanced _ninjutsu_ and _taijutsu_. And if I could use the seal, I could beat Gaara without any advanced technique."

"Oh? And do you really think you could get past that inner armor without any techniques?"

Sasuke scowled at Kakashi's insolent tone, as if the Uchiha were a mere child instead of the last scion of what used to be Konoha's strongest clan. "Of course! With the seal, the _Goukakyu no Jutsu_ was strong enough to melt away the outer sand wall into glass and smash through it."

"And what happened after it smashed through? Oh, no, let me take a wild guess: Gaara moved away, didn't he?" Despite keeping a light tone, Kakashi was quite surprised: normal sand would be hard enough to melt at the speeds the _Goukakyu_ travelled, and would be quite sufficient to dispel most fireballs apart. If Sasuke's fireball could even dispose of chakra-infused sand that easily, perhaps Kakashi shouldn't cater to Sasuke's wishes. After all, the _Chidori_ was classified as an assassination technique for a reason. Nevertheless, Kakashi continued with the same mocking tone, "Well then, since you clearly have everything in hand, I'll just let you train by yourself. After all, a genius like the last loyal Uchiha certainly wouldn't need little old me to teach him something that would not only penetrate the flimsy sand perimeter but also pierce through the sand armor and actually hit a moving target, would he?"  
Kakashi let the silence drag on twice as long as strictly necessary. "Oh, what's this? Does the Uchiha have any doubts?"

Sasuke's gnashing teeth could be heard even by untrained civilians. "Fine, I need your help. Happy?"

While Kakashi cheered at the concession, he had to make sure Sasuke _would_ stay loyal to Konoha, not simply agreeing with Kakashi to gain the abilities required to score a victory in the Chunin Exams. "Happy? Why would I be happy? You've just deprived me of time with my precious," temporized Kakashi while his mind raced for a proper way to achieve his goal.

'Finally,' thought Kakashi. 'Why didn't I think of this sooner?'

Aloud, Kakashi said, "But here's more food for thought. Orochimaru certainly didn't need to run away to gain strength, yet you're implying that an Uchiha -the _last_ Uchiha- is so weak that he can't even compare to a clanless orphan, that he'd have to turn to someone despicable rather than relying on himself. Did Itachi need to rely on crutches given by others to gain strength? Did _any_ Uchiha? Isn't the Sharingan powerful enough? And if you became a mindless puppet of Orochimaru, you wouldn't have your revenge. Or would you have Itachi killed by some common criminal instead?"

After a while, Sasuke looked down, ashamed. Kakashi would have smirked, except that he knew how close he had been to losing another close person. "Your training won't get itself done while we're standing here. Now that we _both_ agree that the cursed seal is a liability that should be contained and neutralized as best possible, go pack your things for, say, a month-long camping trip. In the meanwhile, I'll ask the Hokage to take a look at it -I don't have nearly the expertise required for anything this tricky. You'll be knocked out for a while after it's done. I'll be getting us somewhere... appropriate for the training I have in mind."

* * *

"Ne, Kakashi." Naruto was surprised when Kakashi did hear him and somehow transitioned in-place from a full sprint to a complete stop.

"Yo! Congratulations again on making it to the finals. You want help to prepare for that, right?" Naruto was surprised: Kakashi had anticipated his needs! Unfortunately, Kakashi couldn't afford to teach Naruto however much he wanted to: he was the only role model in Konoha for Sasuke, and the Uchiha's loyalty was currently teetering. If he were to show any behavior which could be construed favoritism towards the blond, however remotely the connection was, it may be enough to send Sasuke over the edge. Naruto didn't exhibit the same problem, though he had a problem with trust. Trust that Kakashi was about to break. "I'm afraid Sasuke got a hold of me before you."

"Why can't you teach both of us, like in Wave?"

"That would not be appropriate, as you are both in the final rounds. But don't worry, I got you another super-cool sensei to provide you with awesome one-on-one instruction." Kakashi normally wouldn't be caught dead with such language, but Naruto's crestfallen look made him feel guilty enough to resort to such measures. "I've asked Ebisu to teach you, and he's also an elite teacher. As a matter of fact, you may remember even remember him."

"The closet pervert?"

"Yes, that's him. He did good work with you during your remedial training, and this time I asked him not to hold back because of me. You may remember that that was one of the issues he had before. Now, he's agreed to teach you everything he can in a month. It'll be harsh and perhaps tedious, but I know that his methods are effective. Trust me, you'll improve a lot with only a month under him."

"He's alright I guess."

"He'll be waiting for you at 3:00PM, in Training Grounds 7. If there's nothing else, I have to go see the Hokage."

"Thanks, Kakashi."

And with that out of the way, Kakashi sped off once more to his original destination. Naruto had taken the news surprisingly well, perhaps because Kakashi had taken the time to find him a familiar replacement.

* * *

"Hokage-sama. Thank you for seeing me on such short notice."

"You don't need to be so formal, Kakashi. I assume you're here because of the seal on the Uchiha?" The Hokage continued after seeing Kakashi nod, "I would have liked Jiraiya to take a look, but he's currently not responding. So the job falls down to either Homura or I. Ideally, we'd both be looking at it and taking notes separately before comparing our independent conclusions. Unfortunately, I'm sure you know of all the trouble he's caused in the past. Asking him would be inviting more trouble in the future."

Kakashi dreaded the direction this conversation was heading toward. "So, what can be done now?"

"Now? I believe you already possess the background necessary to apply for the position of an official Sealmaster, but simply lack the motivation to train until seals become second nature to you. As such, you'd most certainly fail the test. On the other hand, if you focus on a single seal, especially a seal with a known predecessor, your skills should be quite sufficient for proper analysis. Don't you agree?" Before Kakashi could lodge a protest -this was a _live seal_, not some test material!- the Hokage steamrolled onward. "Here are Minato's notes on Anko's seal. I'll go inspect the seal first, while you memorize the document. With the Sharingan, it shouldn't take too long. We'll compare notes afterward, and I'll supervise your operation."

And the Hokage was gone.

* * *

The Hokage watched in satisfaction as Kakashi slumped down, thoroughly exhausted. This was the first complex seal that Kakashi had ever performed himself, and with just a bit more practice, surely Kakashi could take over as the resident Sealmaster. Kami knew Konoha needed one badly at the moment, as all listed masters were either out of Konoha or out of active duty. As of now, Kakashi was the closest to becoming a full-fledged master, though the Hokage realized that it could still take a while to get Kakashi to study _Fuuinjutsu_ properly and had therefore selected Kurenai as a back-up candidate. Nevertheless, the Hokage certainly wasn't one to snub opportunities when they arose. Thus, Kakashi found himself performing one of the most elaborate operations Konoha had seen in a while, along with experiencing the drain associated with such elaborate seals.

While waiting for the Jonin to recover, the Hokage initiated conversation. "Sasuke was packing for a training trip when I saw him."

"I'm intending to take him to the mountains just outside of Konoha, nowhere too far."

"The mountains?" The Hokage frowned. "Why? What are you planning to teach him?"

"Speed comes first, as speed is always important. After I brainwash him enough, I'll give him _Raiton_ elemental training, and if he's responsible enough to handle it, I'll give him the _Chidori_."

The Hokage took a sharp breath. "The _Chidori_? Of all the jutsus you know, the **_Chidori_**? Why the _Chidori_?"

"Because it's the jutsu best suited to allow him to defeat Gaara. Sand is an Earth-type jutsu, and therefore should be weak against Lightning. I suspect that may be why no one in Suna could assassinate Gaara: Lightning is even more rare there than Wind is in Konoha, and focusing the chakra to gain that piercing edge would be out of the question. In fact, I believe there's not a single primary or strong secondary affinity for Lightning in all of Suna."

The Hokage was still uneasy. "How certain are you that Sasuke won't abuse the _Chidori_?"

"I'm not. That is exactly why I'll be doing speed training before teaching him the _Chidori_. After all, if my concern was solely for optimizing his training, I would start on both elemental manipulation and speed concurrently, or maybe even waiting until after the _Chidori_ to start on his speed training as the Chidori would enhance his reflexes."

"But..." The Hokage cupped his chin in thought. After a while, he said, "I still believe you're being too cavalier with the _Chidori_, but at least you seem to have given it some thought. Very well, then, I'll shelve my reservations for now. Teach him the _Chidori_ at your discretion, but make sure that you have proper justification if you ever do teach him."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama."

"Oh, and one last thing. If Sasuke is late for the final round by even one eyeblink, I will personally disqualify him. Are we clear?"

Kakashi blinked. He hadn't thought that the Hokage would bring this up, since Kakashi was never late for important occasions. Why would the Hokage, who was well aware of Kakashi's habits, bring up this issue now? Was there a hidden agenda? And then, the answer struck Kakashi. Being disqualified due to lateness was a perfectly acceptable way to remove Sasuke from the finals. If Sasuke still didn't rescind his love of Orochimaru's poisoned gift or persisted in his misguided views on revenge, Kakashi could now safely avoid passing on the Chidori without endangering his ward. "Crystal."

"Good. See you in a month, then."


	14. Ch13 Chunin Exams, Preparations

Naruto was frustrated. He knew he was able to do this, that he had conquered this particular nemesis a while ago already. Been there, done that, and just get on with the show already!

Yet he couldn't for the life of him walk on trees without splintering the bark. While he'd regained enough control to walk on trees in the Forest, the montrous plants he'd then used for practice were much hardier then those in Training Grounds Seven. Including the current one that, judging by the ominous creak, was about to be shredded as well. Quickly, Naruto drew a line on the tree and flipped back down to the ground.

"Argh!"

"Naruto, I believe you said that you used to exhibit no difficulty with the tree-walking?"

"I didn't! I even managed to do it in the Forest, too, after my chakra had gone weird. It's these stupid trees that are too fragile! Even in Wave the trees didn't snap off completely, and that was the first time I did this then. I dunno, it's like these trees just explode randomly."

Ebisu focused on a single portion of Naruto's rant. "Your chakra had gone 'weird'? What do you mean?"

"Yeah, it went weird! Didn't Kakashi tell you?"

Ebisu let out a sigh -Kakashi had managed to once more skimp out on his duties. "No, he didn't. He just explained that you might want help to prepare for the finals, and that he already promised Sasuke one-on-one training." While this was true, Kakashi had also offered the true reasons for his actions when Ebisu had confronted him. However, such information was restricted, even if Naruto already knew of the cursed seal. "And of course I agreed, since this time I'd be essentially free to teach you whatever I wish. Except that he didn't tell me about your chakra 'going weird'."

Naruto recounted his encounter with Orochimaru in the Forest, ending with, "And since then my chakra is now all weird."

"Weird in what sense?"

"Weird like... I dunno. Like there's chakra surging in my coils at random moments, and all these strange things happen for no reason at all."

"Strange things?"

"Like, I dunno, trees exploding. Or the _Repputoppa_ becoming more like an explosive tag than a slicing ball. Or... just... stuff like that, I guess."

Ebisu paced in a circle in deep thought. After a while, he asked, "So this 'weirdness' started only after Orochimaru knocked you out?" Naruto nodded. "With a light tap on your belly?" More nodding. "Would you mind terribly if I looked at your belly?" Naruto complied, lifting his shirt off to reveal unmarred skin. "Now please mold your chakra."

Ebisu let out a slow whistle as the Yondaime's seal appeared. He'd known that it would be a complex system, but this defied all logic. How anyone could gather sufficient chakra to cast the seal was beyond Ebisu's wildest imaginings, let alone manage to trap the most powerful of the _bijuus_ within the seal before inserting another complex seal: the _Hakke no Fuuin Shiki_. The Yondaime was quite the genius indeed: whereas other _bijuu_ such as the _Shukaku_ could allow their massive stores to merge with the _jinchuuriki_ host's own chakra, the _Kyuubi_ was another matter entirely. Not only would the sheer depth of its youki overwhelm even the Hoshigaki's legendary chakra coils, but the demonic quality was such that previous attempts to merge even residual traces of the youki were met with failure on account of chakra poisoning. While the _Shiki no Fuujin_ would hold the demon's soul within the spiral sequence, the _Hakke no Fuuin Shiki_ would convert it into something much more palatable to humans, serving as both a makeshift adaptor as well as a barrier against any youki intrusions the _Kyuubi_ might attempt.

But then, when Ebisu was about to tell Naruto to stop molding chakra, the seal suddenly fluctuated, and the outlines of another seal appeared on the outskirts of the _Hakke no Fuuin Shiki_, one much more disruptive than even the _Shiki Fuujin_ in its unbound form, even if less toxic than the latter one. First the symbol for "Wind" appeared in red before the rest of the _Gogyou Fuuin_ flickered into view, black markings crawling into existence before dissolving back into the skin. Ebisu frowned. The _Gogyou Fuuin_ was a nasty sealing system, only used by crazy elites wishing for ever more power in the form of an additional elemental manipulation. Even then, it was only attempted as a last resort when all other methods at the endeavor had utterly failed. Ebisu himself had considered it a few times, only to abandon this avenue every time he went back to the library. The pain and side-effects of effectively using this particular seal barred the vast majority of ninjas from attempting it, and to date only two were ever recorded to have successfully battled its side-effects long enough to grab the prize of elemental manipulation. Both were already legendary ninjas who went on to receive even greater recognition: Sarutobi Hiruzen and Orochimaru.

Or rather, Ebisu amended with the hint of a smile twitching the corner of his lips, three. The first had ploughed through it through sheer necessity in order to protect the village, the second had deemed it useful enough to waive away all thoughts of its side-effects. Now a third name wormed itself onto the list: Uzumaki Naruto, who was simply too stubborn to succumb to its effects, even when augmented by the effects of the _Shiki no Fuujin_ and destabilized by the _Hakke no Fuuin Shiki_. No wonder Naruto's hard-earned chakra control had been blown away! Even when powered by normal, human chakra, it was a dreadful learning method, let alone when the seal drew power from energy malevolent enough to cow the _Kyuubi, _to bind it into submission within the form of a baby.

Jiraiya had submitted a method for dissolving the _Gogyou Fuuin_ as his inkless contribution for earning the title of Sealmaster, yet Ebisu was hesitant to use the technique. It was clear that the seal was detrimental to Naruto's progress, that the side-effects far outweighed any possible advantages the Genin might gain. This was especially true given the current circumstances: Naruto was scheduled to face Hyuuga Neji of all people in the very first round of final test for the Chuunin Exams _-Hyuuga Neji_, the once-in-a-lifetime progidy within a clan of prodigies!

However, Ebisu also understood the implications of the power of _Shiki Fuuin_ seeping into the _Gogyou Fuuin_, and accepted that analyzing such a complex seal was well beyond his meager _Fuuinjutsu_ skills. Thus, after a brief detour through the required theoretical aspects (and being pleasantly surprised by Naruto's attentiveness and insightful questions), Ebisu concluded by apologizing for being unable to help Naruto out of his dilemma.

Naruto settled his chin onto a fist and frowned, eyes crossing from intensive thinking. "Wait a minute. You said that the Old Man and Orochimaru voluntarily inflicted the _Gogyou Fuuin_ on themselves right? And that they learned many more nature manipulations than should be possible, right?"

Ebisu did not like the direction Naruto's thoughts had taken. "Yes, they grafted _human_-powered _Gogyou Fuuin_ onto their chakra pathways. Pathways which, may I remind you, are notably devoid of external influence from, say, complex seal systems layered one atop another or a gigantic fox of evil chakra."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it, I'm not normal and I gotta be cautious 'cause I could release the _Kyuubi_ if I'm not and I definitely don't want that to happen. Really, trust me, I get it." Whereas Naruto had been waving his hand dismissively, he now fixed Ebisu with a stare that shocked the Special Jonin with its intensity. "But... Gah! How do I put it in words?" The sudden relapse in typical Naruto goofiness would be comical if it weren't quite so unsettling when Naruto regained his focus once more. "You said that the _Kyuubi_'s chakra cannot seep out because of the eight bases of the _Hakke no Fuuin Shiki_, right?"

"Actually, to be precise, that's not quite the entire truth. There is a small trickle at all times, so tiny as to be almost negligible in comparison to the ocean dammed up behind the seal. But from what I've heard the Sandaime say, not even the immensely complex _Hakke no Fuuin Shiki_ can entirely hold the _Kyuubi's_ chakra at bay save for a steady trickle, and so that is why your chakra control used to be so much worse than all other students."

"So it wasn't just because I have large reserves?"

"That is also as important a factor on your previously mediocre control as the _Hakke no Fuuin Shiki_. This would exacerbate your already considerable problems with control. Complicating matters even further is that the _Kyuubi_ is allowed to send out his chakra to speed your healing along. So whenever you're injured, the tiny traces of youki in your system already speed up your healing and make it much more complete than most humans can manage. Yet if the _Kyuubi_ wishes so, it may also send out its chakra to help you even more. Or so the Sandaime told me. I must admit that my own skills at _Fuuinjutsu_ are insufficient for such analyses."

"Huh. So if I'm injured and the _Kyuubi_ decides to help along, my chakra control gets worse?"

"That would be one unfortunate side-effect, yes."

"Hm. But I guess that doesn't really change what I was thinking of. If I could learn to mold my chakra around both the eight-seal _Hakke no Fuuin Shiki_ and the five-seal _Gogyou Fuuin_, then I should be able to get my control back, right? If I do that, then there's no risk of letting the _Kyuubi_ free by removing the _Gogyou Fuuin_, right? And I know it's possible since both hte Old Man and Orochimaru managed to get around their seals."

Ebisu snorted. "For a moment, I'd thought you had an unusually bright insight, but that... In theory, yes, if you could manage to do that, then you could control your chakra at least as well as anyone unmarked. In theory. But the sheer difficulty of managing just one step is already mind-blowing. Take the normal _Gogyou Fuuin_. Most people would die before they got to move their chakra around the seal, never mind channeling their chakra properly with the seal."

"But what about-"

"To give you an inkling about what you're suggesting," interrupted Ebisu, "let's do a review of chakra." Ebisu was surprised that Naruto hadn't sighed in despair at the need for more detailed theory. "As you know, there are five elemental types. It usually takes several years to learn to channel chakra entirely in one type of chakra, even one where you have an innate affinity. Of course, it is also possible to channel elemental chakra entirely through special handseal sequences, but those are few and typically low-rank. Channelling chakra of one type is essential to perform the vast majority of elemental jutsus, as it would take an astronomical quantity of chakra to make even C-ranked jutsus work properly given that there must be enough elemental chakra to overcome the impurities of neutral chakra, and so most people find it worthwhile to learn elemental manipulation for their first affinity, even if it takes years to do so.

"As a rule of thumb, it takes twice as long to master the next element, and then twice again if one ever gets to a third element. The fourth is expected to take twice that, or roughly _eight _times the time it took for the first elemental manipulation. That is why most people rely on handseals instead, and just use the lower level techniques for elemental manipulation and spend an inordinate amount of chakra when they are forced to use such jutsus: it just isn't worth all the effort of training elemental manipulation at this point. All this, I've taught you before, in your remedial classes. What I hadn't taught you is even worse. Most people unconsciously channel chakra of various types -just tiny traces of them. That is why we can easily determine the strongest affinity: it's simply the one with the highest traces. It takes even longer for the next one if your first affinity was a strong one, as you'd have to learn to suppress the first type before even attempting to master the second one. Unless you have a bloodline limit, it's simply impossible to channel two different elements at once, but why is that?"

After a brief pause to ensure Naruto was still paying attention, Ebisu resumed, "That is because we only have one chakra system. _One_. Unless you're biologically equipped to channel two types, you can only ever do one elemental manipulation at a time. Even then, you can only do two specific elemental manipulations at once, not just any two that you want. All the hard work in the world can't change that limitation, and unless you modify your body, surgically or otherwise, it is simply impossible to channel two types of chakra at once. Completely, utterly, mathematically _impossible_. This is why the Sandaime and Orochimaru had bothered with the blasted seal: it would have taken too long to learn how not to channel residual traces of the other chakra manipulations they'd learned before."

"Ne, Ebisu, you mean that the _Gogyou Fuuin_ helps learn chakra manipulation by removing traces of elemental chakra, right? But then, why would it mess up control?"

"Because it filters the chakra passing through the coils. Anything that isn't either completely neutral or entirely aligned with one element will be forcibly suppressed by the rest of the chakra. In other words, it makes your chakra fight itself if it doesn't pass the filter. Since we constantly pool our chakra from all over the body, the special chakra exuded by one part (for instance, the Wind chakra from our lungs) are also included in the mix before our body has a chance to purify the chakra. Neutral chakra -the bulk that we normally use for jutsu and things like tree-walking- will obviously pass the test. Fully-molded elemental chakra will also pass muster. The problem lies in all other types of chakra, such as the demonic chakra of the _Kyuubi_, star chakra-"

"Huh? What's that?"

"The special chakra that comes from the meteor of the Star Village. Remember when I taught you about Hoshigakure, yes? They draw power from a strange source, the star of Star Village."

"Oh. I see."

"Yes." Ebisu readjusted his glasses. He could have sworn that Naruto would have remembered that tidbit of information from the remedial studies. Nevertheless, it seemed as though it were simply a temporary slip of the mind. "Well, there's also medical chakra, light or dark chakra, incompletely-molded elemental chakra..."

"Huh? Incompletely molded elemental chakra?"

Ebisu couldn't quite prevent a sigh from escaping. This was a controversial subject debated among medic-nins. For now, though, the little information agreed upon by both factions would have to suffice. "That's right. The trace amounts of elemental chakra that are neither completely purified or completely molded. It's generally assumed to be chakra that was generated in its raw form by the tenketsus and snatched away before it was either finalized through molding or purified into neutral chakra." What Ebisu avoided mentioning, however, was _what_ the incompletely purified chakra did to the body, or what its purification required, or even how it was molded from physical and spiritual energy. The instructor gave himself a pat on the head -those were an academic quagmires he'd neatly sidestepped.

Currently, though, Ebisu had to complete his theoretical exposition. "As such, the incompletely purified chakra will be suppressed by the _Gogyou Fuuin_. Those impurities, incidentally, are why medic-nins need to concentrate their chakra outside of their patients." At Naruto's baffled look, Ebisu added, "You don't get it, do you? If the tiniest quantum of non-medical chakra seeped into their jutsus, a grievously injured patient might very well die from the operation as the non-medical chakra would not perform its role and therefore destabilize the entire operation. Therefore, to prevent this, they have a jutsu that allows them to filter out non-medical chakra."

"Ne, Ebisu-sensei, wouldn't that mean that their control over their medical chakra is really bad?" Just before Ebisu could answer, Naruto understood the principle. "Ah! I see! They have a pool filtered medical chakra outside their body, right? And they control the jutsu using the filtered pool while they keep on pushing newly generated medical chakra into the pool, right?"

"Yes, Naruto, that's it exactly."

"So basically, to ignore the _Gogyou Fuuin_, I'd have to mold chakra and pool it before using it."

Ebisu scratched his head to hide his annoyance. "No, Naruto, you can't do that. You see, that method works for medic-nins because they don't need to keep their molding a surprise. And they have enough time to prepare their chakra, time to form the pool. On the field, however, you don't have the luxury of a time-out to purify your chakra. You need it, and you need it immediately. That is why even those who have mastered several elemental manipulations rarely perform as high-level jutsus with their extraneous affinities as they do with their primary one: while they _can_ mold enough elemental chakra to do those techniques, it would just take too much time, time where they would be vulnerable to attacks. Similarly, you can't just tell your opponent to wait while you gather chakra, you need to summon your chakra instantaneously, instinctively."

"Oh. But about my case... I'd need to learn how to summon perfectly neutral chakra. But that's impossible, isn't it?"

"That's about right. No way anyone has ever made it work in practice."

"Wait, so it's possible? I mean, in theory?"

'Why, oh why, did I have to open my big mouth?' wondered Ebisu. Aloud, he answered, "Well, I guess so. Since we learn to channel purer and purer chakra, it might be possible to get it to the point where the _Gogyou Fuuin_ won't make much of a difference on that level, though no one's ever done it before."

"Alright! So if I can do that, then I'm all set!"

"Not quite. On top of that, you'll have to learn to partition your chakra into five so that it flows smoothly around the seals. Otherwise, your chakra would slosh around and once again form impurities from the disturbance."

"Partition? But I thought that our body only has one chakra system? What's there to partition?"

"Chakra, as you know, is made up of two components: spiritual and physical. You gather both components, and your different tenketsus mold them together. Now, the interesting part is that different tenketsus mold chakra differently, which is why we have all sorts of types. Those qualities are passive. Having one chakra system means that we can make only one active transformation at any given time. Our bodies can only channel chakra of one _type_. That is why we say that we only have one chakra system. Trying to channel more types simultaneously would cause chakra poisoning.

"However, there's more to chakra than just its qualities, or types. There's obviously the mass of chakra, but there's also the little matter of physical space and direction. If you have sufficient control over your chakra, you can force it to flow in one direction, or have it remain in one space. That is the power of the _Jyuuken_: they force chakra to invade the opponent's tenketsus. That is also what you must learn if you want to live with the _Gogyou_. You must learn to instinctively separate your chakra into eight directions going out of your chakra center, then recombine them and separate them into five separate streams.

"It takes talented ninjas to separate into chakra into a convenient number of streams, such as two or four or eight. As you know, there are many talented ninjas around, and some even among your age group can divide their chakra into sixty-four partitions. Neji is reported to be one such person. However, very few people are even able to partition chakra into five, and fewer still can summon that is neutral enough to bypass the _Gogyou Fuuin_ filters without detectable turbulence. Together, those two challenges have proven harder than either the Sandaime or Orochimaru could handle, as they asked Jiraiya to remove their seals promptly after they learned their fourth elements."

"Fourth? They know _four_ elements!"

"Yes. Don't forget that most Jonins already know two manipulations, and elite ones are expected to know three. At that point, Orochimaru was established as an elite and the Hokage was already the Hokage. But they both felt that they needed to get stronger because of the war. It was only after they applied it that Jiraiya worked on a counter-seal. But to get back to my original point, partitioning your chakra in two is already impressive. However, even partitioning into four parts is much, much easier than it is to partition in five, because our body handles even numbers (or, to be precise, powers of two) better than uneven numbers, especially a prime number such as five. And even if you did just that, and even if you learned to somehow generate neutral chakra on a constant basis, you'd have to partition your chakra into eight as well because of the _Hakke no Fuuin Shiki_. Do you now get just how far out of reach your goal is?"

"But, it's not impossible, right? That's what you said earlier. Channeling two types of chakra at once is impossible, but this is just really really hard, right?"

"Yes, theoretically speaking, it is possible to do this, if only barely. But it would take years, decades even, to get this done, not a single month."

"But that's the best choice I have, right? I mean, we can't risk taking off this seal, and I can't train properly with it on my body." Naruto frowned. "Unless I worked on elemental manipulation?" Naruto shook his head. "Even if I finished my first elemental manipulation, I'd still need more control if I have to face Neji." Naruto shuddered as he remembered the senseless brutality Neji displayed in the preliminaries. After returning to the present, Naruto made a cross-shaped seal to summon a sea of orange-clad blonds. "Kakashi did say that I can remember everything the clones do, and it will train my chakra itself, so I thought this might help."

Ebisu shook his head. "I never thought I'd see the day the _Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ would be reduced to a mere training method. Kakashi is indeed a genius, even if his ideas degrade the jutsus to helping with such mundane chores. But Kakashi is right, the shadow clones should help cut down on the time it takes to practice."

"Alright! So, how do I learn to channel pure chakra?"

* * *

Sasuke concluded that Kakashi was an evil genius. It didn't matter whether or not his silver-haired Jonin was Konoha-nin or missing-nin, just as it didn't matter whether or not Kakashi was renowned for his lateness: his teacher was definitely a harsh taskmaster with a penchant for sadism. In the week since the end of the preliminaries (and just why did he have to get a free ticket where everyone else had to fight for the right to be in the finals? Uchiha were _elite_, and the elite didn't need scraps of luck handed out to mongrel commoners!), the Uchiha had been led around by the nose, kunais and pebbles alike would constantly bombard him at any time during the day without rhyme or reason. Supposedly, the goal was to increase his reaction speed and his limberness, or some other such nonsense. With the _Sharingan_, what use was there for such maneuvers?

Sasuke surmised that this was punishment for rebelling when Kakashi mentioned removing the cursed seal. In retrospect, it was rather foolish of him to simply assume that his seal would be harmless and that it should therefore be contained, but Kakashi really was taking this too far. Day in and day out, for an _entire_ week, they had done nothing but work hard on his speed, grueling drills climbing up and down the mountain range. The improvement was blatant even to himself, and in the dark of the night, Sasuke grudgingly admitted that his evading skills were quite probably better now than they were before the training, even with the help of the _Sharingan_.

However, Sasuke had been promised high-level jutsus, ones that could overcome both the sheer defensive capabilities as well as the delaying properties of Gaara's sand, and Sasuke had no intention of being denied his jutsus. Unbeknown to Sasuke, he had just earned himself the right to these jutsus by staying silent for the entire week, just as he was ignorant of the importance of sheer reaction speed for the specific jutsu Kakashi had in mind, the _Chidori_.

That very night, Kakashi surprised him by offering the next step in their training. While Sasuke had yet to match Lee's speed, further work on the topic would be enhanced with the _Sharingan_. Neither knew how close Kakashi had come to deny Sasuke what would become his trademark elemental manipulation.

* * *

After spending a week of lazing about, Sakura felt that it was time to pick up her own slack. So what did it matter if Kakashi had seen fit to vanish into thin air along with Sasuke, and what if Naruto had decided to officially lose his sanity at the same time, deciding to train intensively in chakra control of all things? If she wanted to improve, she shouldn't depend on her teammates to provide her with determination. After all, she had decided to enter the Chunin Exams on her own, not simply to accomodate her teammates. In addition, she also had to sort out her feelings about Orochimaru's seals. She knew of their usefulness firsthand -there was no way she could have held off an entire team of Chunin hopefuls without the seals until Naruto woke up. In truth, she'd almost won on her own!

Yet, at the same time, she also feared the seals as well. Orochimaru was a missing-nin for a reason. Being academically oriented, it was but child's play for Sakura to recall Orochimaru's foul deeds. Indeed, the images of the ruined lab and, most importantly, of the "failed experiments" Orochimaru so carelessly left behind were still as fresh in her mind as when she'd first read on the subject. And there was no doubt in her mind that the seals were either tested in Orochimaru's gruesome paradigm, or that she was merely one of his guinea pigs. As such, should she use the seals and reap their benefits? Would she be able to look at herself in the mirror if she did, knowing the blood and agony Orochimaru's work doubtlessly entailed? If she refused the siren song of such tantalizing power, could she accept her stunted growth on the basis of morals, of price already paid? Would it be fair to all those who suffered if she let their pain go to waste?

Yet she was intrigued by the possibilities the seal granted. That fireball illusion had been more realistic than anything she could conjure on her own, and all it had taken had been visualization of the jutsu. If Sakura knew offensive _genjutsus_, perhaps she could also use them with the seals only if the situation required, rather than either ignoring the seals completely or learning to rely on them. With this thought in mind, Sakura set out to meet Konoha's resident _genjutsu_ mistress. After all, if both Sasuke and Naruto were training, could she afford not to?

* * *

Naruto strained to keep everything together.

On the first day, Ebisu had proposed a rather unusual method for training his both chakra neutrality and partitioning: he had to juggle kunais in his left hand, keep a piece of chakra paper afloat just two inches from his right palm and flap together two pieces of chakra paper on his forehead. His goal was not simply to perform the tasks required, but to keep the papers from showing signs of elemental chakra. Or rather, that would have been the end of the first exercise if Ebisu had kept to his original plan. When Naruto had sarcastically commented on how both feet were busy staying idle, however, Ebisu smirked before ordering Naruto to also keep both a kunai and yet another piece of chakra paper afloat on top of one knee and to perform squats on the remaining foot.

It was on the second day that Ebisu noticed that while Naruto improved dramatically, his progress could have been even greater if one considered the sheer number of clones involved. There was a great deal of overlap in the attempts: even if four clones made the same mistake, Naruto would only learn from it once. Therefore, Ebisu modified the exercise, dispelling clones every few seconds such that the rest could learn from mistakes and insights alike.

To compensate for the loss, Naruto himself was made to stand apart and replenish the numbers without performing the exercises himself. His sole task was to concentrate on integrating all the memories while keeping a constant number of clones. That, and to keep running around to increase his speed. After Naruto had seen what Lee could do with just physical speed and power, he didn't complain about wasting his time. Instead, he set to work diligently, his mind set on completing the obstacle courses as fast as possible while still keeping track of his clones.

On top of the dual training, Ebisu set aside a small group of clones dedicated to meditating. The goal was to rid oneself of all extraneous chakra summoning. This was quite different from normal chakra masking, as the latter involved actively conjuring a veil of chakra to cloak one's signature. Meditating, on the other hand, attempted to reduce chakra flow to the bare minimum necessary and would be of tremendous use in learning to summon neutral chakra.

Ebisu also decided that some elemental training would be of use. By his reasoning, Naruto might be able to master his main element due to the presence of the _Gogyou Fuuin_. After all, if one held an advantage, it would be illogical to squander it while suffering from its side-effects. Thus, two clones of Naruto now stood to the side, eyes scrunched shut in concentration and a single leaf clutched between palms.

On the third day, Ebisu judged Naruto's progress sufficient for warranting an increase in the difficulty level of the exercise. While Naruto repeated mostly the same exercise, his clones were now expected to juggle three balls of chakra paper between his feet while standing upside-down on tree branches, and the meditating clones were now to engage in a game of tag while restraining from any chakra summoning. Only the ones working on nature manipulation did not receive an increase in the complexity of their task, though they did see their number doubled.

After a week of this new training regimen, Naruto was starting to feel stretched out, feeling as if he existed outside of time itself. At first, the effects weren't quite so bad and a good night's sleep restored his enthusiasm. Gradually, though, he was starting to feel the burden, the fatigue. And now, he could barely keep his own consciousness apart from the streams of dispelled clones bombarding his mind with information. And then, he blinked and noted that Ebisu really was running alongside him and not some clone about to be dispelled.

"Naruto? Are you alright?"

"Huh? Uh..." Naruto scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just had some trouble sorting out all those memories."

"Naruto, I think we should stop here for now. You've just had the equivalent of years and years of practice dumped on you over the last week. Your chakra control under the effect of the _Gogyou Fuuin _is already better than anyone could expect, and I suspect you may gain more by taking a break from making all these clones."

"But I can't afford to relax! I haven't gotten _any_where in my training, and the finals are starting in just three weeks, and I have to win agaisnt that teme!"

"I must respectfully disagree. You can already cut halfway through leaves, you have no trouble with tree-walking anymore, and you can stop summoning chakra for stretches of a few seconds at a time by now, even when you're running around or skulking in bushes."

"But I still can't stop smashing the trees when I do alternate between feet, the chakra papers still get cut all the time, and I can't seem to improve with the meditation beyond those seconds."

"As you've said to Konohamaru the Honorable Magomusuko, there are no shortcuts to power. The path to true strength is a long and arduous one, and oftentimes one proceeds faster after a break. I am not telling you to stop training for the final round of the Chunin Exams, but simply to take a break. After all, you've already progressed much more than I ever thought possible for someone with those seals, never mind anyone with those seals _and_ the mass of chakra that you have."

"I guess it wouldn't hurt too much to stop for today."

"That's the spirit. Now, I said you'd be taking a break from chakra control, but there's still something else you should train. _Taijutsu_."

* * *

The man's barely-concealed giggles were starting to get on his nerves. After a day of intensive physical training, Naruto was now concentrating on water-walking while Ebisu kept his clones occupied elsewhere. As it turned out, Ebisu wanted him to work on water-walking because the clones were likely to dispel every time they fell into the hot springs, and therefore the _Kage Bunshin_ wouldn't be a cost-effective training tool in this scenario. Fortunately, the day's rest had allowed Naruto to keep a level head even while his clones were being disrupted every so often, and in the morning he'd made great strides. Verily, Ebisu's suggestion of a day's break from the routine was quite helpful.

However, by mid-morning, a tremor ran through the bushes separating the men's and the women's springs. At first, isolated snickers erupted near the ladies' bath house before they were degenerated into the occasional giggle. That much Naruto had been able to ignore effortlessly, thanks to the countless hours spent in the company of a sensei engrossed in a certain precious orange book. Or at least, had been able to for the first hour following the emergence of unambiguous perverted behavior. By the time noon came about, Naruto wasn't quite certain whether he kept falling into the water due to his own mediocre chakra control or due to being distracted by the lecherous sounds emanating from the bushes.

And finally, after falling yet another time, Naruto decided that enough was enough. He marched up to the bushes, only to find a mane of white hair and absolutely nothing else.

"Hey!"

Surprisingly, a hand peeked through the cascading veil of white and waved, as if to ward off a mosquito. Needless to mention, Naruto was rather annoyed by the casual dismissal.

"Hey! You there, the pervert!"

"Sh! Gaki, keep it down or you'll scare away the ladies! Heehee! Oh, hohoho!"

"HEY! PERVERT! I'm **trying** to train here! Go pick another spot or something!"

As expected, a chorus of outraged women filled the air as the mist from the hot springs covered their hasty retreat. And then the white hair turned to reveal a man with red stripes running down his face à-la Inuzuka. "You've got some nerve, gaki," the man ground out, teeth chattering in indignation. "Do you have any idea who you're addressing?"

"What do I care? You're just some pervert who's interfering with my training!" Now that most of the females had clothed on in preparation of bashing whoever dared interrupt them, Naruto turned around to return to his training.

His interlocutor, on the other hand, wasn't about to let him go so easily. "You... You brat! I'm Jiraiya, the super-pervert! How dare you just ignore me after you've ruined my research? You think I'll just let you go after you single-handedly destroyed a whole day's worth of research? Think again!"

Naruto turned around at this. "You're Jiraiya? You? Pfft. I'm not that gullible!"

"Oh, so you've heard of the great Jiraiya, have you? Well, I'm the Gama-Sennin himself!"

Jiraiya's pose, with a left thumb pointing to his nose, his chest puffed out and his head thrown back, was so ridiculous that Naruto couldn't prevent himself from snorting out his amusement.

"Hey, watcha laughing at?"

"Right. You're Jiraiya?" And thus started another round of guffaws.

"What would you know?"

Naruto calmed himself down. "What does it matter? You're just an old buffoon who won't help me in my match."

"Ah, so you're one of the Chunin hopefuls, huh?"

"Yeah, so just... go visit some ladies' bath or something and let me train, will you?"

* * *

Ebisu had just decided to see how Naruto was doing when he heard the distinctive voice of Jiraiya-sama. Unfortunately, said voice was not at all amused -it seemed Naruto had managed to interfere with Jiraiya's great passion. His heart sank when he felt Jiraiya's chakra trembling along with his voice. The change was not simply subtle in quality but also miniscule in quantity, and anyone who did not know of Jiraiya's stealth, one on the level of Tsunade's legendary chakra control, would dismiss the observation as an insignificant detail. Indeed, Naruto, who seemed under the impression that Jiraiya-sama was merely a charlatan posing as one of the Sannin, seemed to be heading in that very direction. This most certainly wouldn't do!

In a rush, Ebisu barged in before Naruto dug himself a hole any deeper than his current one. "Jiraiya-sama! Hokage-sama will be most pleased to know that you are back. I have heard that Hokage-sama has urgent business to discuss with you."

Ebisu was not quite sure whether to be overjoyed or mortified. While he did successfull detract Jiraiya's annoyance with the blond Genin, the end result was having Jiraiya's ire transferred onto himself. While he was much more likely to survive the encounter with fewer injuries, Naruto was likely to heal faster than him. Then again, Ebisu reflected as he steeled himself as a sacrifice for Naruto's sake, the Genin still had to worry about the final exams, on top of needing Jiraiya-sama's help to deal with Orochimaru's _Gogyou Fuuin_. If not even the Hokage was willing to muck with the complex system of arcane seals, Naruto had only one hope if he ever wished to receive some help with his quandary. Jiraiya.

* * *

Jiraiya was smug as he noted Naruto's slack jaw. "Careful there, kiddo; while my summons can safely digest insects, I doubt you can do the same. Unless you want to work as my underling and catch flies with your tongue?"

"Holy crap! You really are Jiraiya!"

"Didn't I tell you that before?"

"You _have_ to help the teme!"

'Ah, the benefits of holding the position of power!' sighed Jiraiya. "And why would I want to help any friend of yours? Why indeed, after you've been so very rude to me, hm?"

"Please! I'll do anything you want. I can even promise you a meal with a beautiful blond lady if you agree!" Inwardly, Naruto cringed, though he still ploughed on. "Sasuke-teme got himself bitten in the neck or something by Orochimaru, and then when he fought in the Forest of Death against this Gaara guy from Suna, black commas spread all over his body."

His teammate was... Sasuke? _Sasuke Uchiha?_ Jiraiya was stunned. He'd figured that the Yondaime-wannabe wished the assistance of a Sannin to prepare for the final rounds, and was fully prepared to accept the exchange (clearly some form of _Henge_ would be involved) and milk all of the awkwardness he could blackmail out of the short hours he would get. However, this tidbit of information changed the entire landscape of Jiraiya's outlook.

"You must be Naruto, then, am I correct?"

"Huh? How'd you know that?" And then Naruto shook his head before fixing Jiraiya with another solemn, desperate gaze, blue irises white-hot with determination. "Please, Ero-Sennin, you _have_ to help him."

"Kid." Jiraiya crouched down, now all traces of the irreverent playboy gone. "I'll look at him and I'll do my best to do whatever I can. I _promise_ you that much; and if you know my reputation you'll also know that I don't give my word lightly." And indeed, while Jiraiya's wandering ways were written down in books, so were his promises as well, and the lengths he went to reach them whenever his initial plan failed. "However, you'll notice that I didn't promise that I will help Sasuke.

"I will do my best, as I promised," Jiraiya forestalled Naruto's protests. "But if what I heard is right, there won't be much I can do. Minato's container seal is already applied, which would probably be the best I could do in any case. If not even that kid could figure out a counter-seal, let alone a dissolving key, I highly doubt I can do any better. I'm still going to try my very best, mind you, but just be warned that it might not be enough."

Naruto looked down, dejected. "Oh."

"Because of that, I can't accept your offer in good conscience."

"Say, uh, do you think you could take a look at this _Gogyou Fuuin_ that Orochimaru put on me?" Naruto still hadn't looked up. "I mean, I know that you probably won't be able to do anything because of the other seals, and the Old Man himself-"

"Old Man? Other seals?"

"The Hokage. And, y'know, the _Other_ seals. The big, taboo ones."

Jiraiya sucked in breath. "I wasn't aware that you knew. That was... unexpected. Why didn't Hokage-sama tell me?" Unasked was the more important question: If such a monumental event escaped his spy networks, what else did he miss?

"I dunno," Naruto answered, oblivious to the spymaster's distress. "But could you take a look at Orochimaru's seal? From what the Hokage said, it's somehow integrated itself to the other seals, so removing it would be too much risk to be worth it."

"Alright, I'll do it." In truth, as soon as he'd learned that this loud but unassuming ninja was Naruto, he'd wanted to look at Orochimaru's handiwork. And just how did his network manage to catch this recent data yet fail to inform him of Naruto's knowledge of the _Kyuubi_ was a mystery to the Sannin. "Take off your shirt and mold some chakra."

Naruto complied without grumbling. As soon as he molded the chakra, the _Hakke no Fuuin Shiki_ and the spiral of the _Shiki no Fuujin_ both appeared in black. The _Gogyou Fuuin_, on the other hand, was conspicuously absent.

"Hey, kid, you sure Orochimaru put the _Gogyou Fuuin_ on you?"

"It doesn't show, does it? I think that either the _Kyuubi_ has to try to force his chakra through or I have to channel elemental chakra for it to show. Here." Naruto concentrated, molding _Fuuton_ chakra as best he could. Immediately, the Wind symbol lit up in black, though it wavered into red as the others appeared briefly as well. "Is it visible now?"

Jiraiya whistled. "That's some skill you got there! You can go rest or eat or train or whatever for a while. I need to think this through; too many variables for a snap decision."

Naruto, however, had another idea. "Hey, Ero-Sennin-"

"Don't call me that, will you?"

"Sure. Hey, Super-Ero-Sennin, could you explain to me how you think this through?"

"Just... go away for a while, will you? I can't afford to mess up by trying to make you understand." Jiraiya sighed at Naruto's downcast expression. "Look, it's not because of you or anything, it's just that _Fuuinjutsu_ theory is incredibly complex, and Genins aren't allowed any theoretical knowledge of it. In this case, where a standard but uncommon seal is applied on top of a one-of-a-kind, custom seal like the one Minato put on you, it's even worse, as I'd need to chart out the interactions between the known effects of the _Gogyou_ and the power of the two taboo seals and not just analyze each seal separately. For you to understand what I'm thinking, you'd need to know mathematical topology, discrete chakra structures, context-free semantics, inter-network calculus and a bunch of other advanced things like those. It's not because of you that I'm refusing, it's just that this is too hard for even the brightest Genin to understand. I'm about to wade in unchartered territory, as it is. If you want, just go back to train on the hot springs; I'll go get you after I'm done."

Naruto perked up. What Jiraiya said made sense. "Sure. Thanks, Super-Ero-Sennin."

Jiraiya buried his face behind a fistful of hair. Given that Naruto called the Hokage by a none-too-complimentary nickname, Jiraiya gave up. "You know what? Just call me Ero-Sennin."

Naruto looked puzzled. "Uh... alright? See you later, Ero-Sennin."

* * *

A good hour later, when Naruto finally managed to walk while still focusing on molding his chakra, Jiraiya came to him. Naruto had seen the movement from the edge of his vision, yet he denied himself any respite until he reached the middle of the pond. Slowly, he turned in-place, rotating using naught but his chakra control until he faced Jiraiya. Still he refused to look at the legendary Sannin, the only one still working for Konoha, and walked back towards the shore. Unfortunately, just as he was within three paces of firm ground, his attention wavered in the middle of an eyeblink. It was enough to send him tumbling down yowling in pain as he was drenched in the scalding waters.

Naruto climbed out of the water, shaking out the water like a wet dog and very thoroughly embarassed. However, instead of berating Naruto or jump at the opportunity for derogatory comments, Jiraiya cocked his head to the side thoughtfully. When he finally spoke, a tint of respect was clearly audible in his tone.

"That was quite unexpected. How long did you say you had the _Gogyou Fuuin_ placed on you?"

Naruto scratched his head in thought, only to find his hair still wet. He glared at the betraying hand for a while before answering. "Well, almost two weeks now, I think."

"And how long have you trained?"

"About a week and a half. Why?"

"That's... mighty impressive for a week and a half. Heck, it'd be impressive if you had a year to do all that. How _did_ you train?"

"Oh, well, I have to admit it was mostly Ebisu-sensei and Kakashi-sensei's doing. See, before the Chunin Exams started, he gave some sort of scroll to Sasuke and Sakura, but he told me about how I can use the _Kage Bunshin_ to learn things -scouting missions, or learning chakra stuff. So after the Forest, he had me train with Ebisu. He first wanted me to show him what I got, but I couldn't even walk on trees like I used to. So he got me to do all these really cool chakra control exercises with lots and lots of clones, with three groups doing different stuff. And then he thought that the clones would keep doing the same mistakes until they dispelled, so instead he got me to do nothing but make sure there were a constant number of clones while he went on to pop some out of existence every once in a while so that everyone benefits from the experience. Or that the clones would get the benefit and not repeat the same mistakes."

Jiraiya was suitably impressed by Kakashi's genius. It was difficult for most people to recognize unorthodox uses of jutsus, and only a genius would be able to wade through as many jutsus as the silver-haired Jonin had in his arsenal and still come up with novel interpretations of any given one. "And what were the exercises?"

"He had a bunch work on both suppressing elemental chakra and chakra partitioning by doing different stuff with chakra papers on different hands -and actually, the forehead and the feet too! Then he had another, smaller bunch work on meditation to help suppress chakra. And he had the last batch of clones work on elemental manipulation. Said I might as well get the benefit of the _Gogyou Fuuin_ if I had to keep it."

Jiraiya was intrigued. Nature manipulation of any type required either extreme chakra control and a reasonable affinity for the nature or reasonable control with an extremely strong affinity. Even with the _Kage Bunshin_ as a time multiplier and with the _Gogyou Fuuin_, Naruto shouldn't have been able to progress far enough to warrant the cost. What was Ebisu thinking?

"Show me your nature manipulation."

Naruto plucked a leaf from a nearby linden and held it between his palms. After furrowing his brows for a few seconds, he displayed the results to Jiraiya. "I can't always cut it in two, though. Ebisu said that it's good enough for half the clones from that batch to work on the next step -cutting water, apparently."

"That's still pretty impressive, even considering that you have the _Gogyou Fuuin_ on you. Now, to return to the original subject. You seem to have a reasonable talent in partitioning your chakra. I'll bet Ebisu told you no one ever did it, right?"

"I guess so. I didn't pay too much attention to that detail."

"Right. Anyways, that is not quite true. It's mind-boggling in its difficulty, but someone like Tsunade of the Sannin would be able to do it. For the rest of us, though, it's practically impossible. Five is a difficult number. Ideally, I'd remove the _Gogyou_ entirely. We do have a jutsu for that that I developed myself, y'know!"

"Yeah, Ebisu said that already. Something about earning your sealmaster badge or something. But the Hokage said it would destabilize the other seals."

"Correct. So, the next best thing is something I can do: make it into an easier number. Now, I'll bet you want another eight-base seal, right? But that would destabilize the entire seal system architecture as well. What I can offer you instead is a twelve-base seal."

Naruto blinked, non-plussed. "How would that help?"

"Eight-to-twelve conversion is much easier than eight-to-five. On top of that, partitioning into twelve is much, much easier than partitioning into five. You can apparently do five with a lot of effort and concentration. However, you still can't quite manage eight-to-five conversion, which is why you still need absolute concentration on doing the five, and force so much chakra through your system."

"So what happens to the _Gogyou Fuuin_?"

"It essentially becomes a twelve-point seal. The currently inexistant _Juunigyou Fuuin_."

"What would be the _Juunigyou Fuuin_?"

"It would be a system that allows chakra of specific types to seep through, twelve doorways of sorts for twelve different types of chakra. There'd be light and dark chakra, the five elements of course, medical chakra, time-and-space chakra-"

"WHAT chakra?"

"Time-and-space chakra. It's mostly what is used in _Fuuinjutsu_. With time-and-space chakra, you affect space-time dimensions of chakra, meaning you can control where and when and how chakra of different types mix."

"So I could warp reality with space-and-time chakra?"

"Not... quite. You only affect the reality of pure chakra. Our physical bodies aren't affected by it, and the energy we gather to make chakra isn't quite the same thing. As such, not even that would be affected."

"Oh. It sounded like such a cool type of chakra."

"It's one of the least understood, mainly because it is so very difficult to mold and, once molded, is very contrary to manipulation. In fact, it's similar to medical chakra in that it takes a ridiculous amount of control and raw chakra to be used effectively, so instead most people just use easy techniques with it, like the _Gogyou Fuuin_, or they use special ink that converts normal chakra to time-and-space chakra. Now, once you do have that chakra, you can do all kinds of interesting work with it, but we're still working out what it is and what it does exactly.

"In any case, there are some other types left to make a convenient number, star chakra and such. I'm afraid you won't like one of them very much. Youki."

"What! You want to let youki through? No, absolutely not. I'll just have to learn to cope with the _Gogyou Fuuin_."

"Gaki!" If neither the sharp tone or the insult had grabbed Naruto's attention, the harsh bop to his cranium most certainly did. "I know how you feel about youki, and I'm happy you're being so responsible about it. Many would have fallen to the temptation of nearly-free power. However, this is much safer than you'd think. In the _Juunigyou_ I have in mind, all of the other types are balanced: the five elements one against the next, light against dark and so on. Only youki stands on its own. As such, it will have to be balanced by something out of the twelve bases yet something integral to the seal. The _Juunigyou_ will only be able to function with a safety-valve of sorts outside, one built together with the _Juunigyou_. Whenever you channel, whatever you channel, you will have to consciously allow it through. If you need youki, you can allow it to seep through; if you don't, it'll simply shut it to a trickle. A much steadier trickle than the _Hakke no Fuuin Shiki_ allowed, I might add, since the _Hakke no Fuuin Shiki_ will still restrain most of the youki."

"Like how it was before the _Gogyou Fuuin_, you mean? But better?"

"Yes, exactly."

Naruto let out a relieved sigh. "That's not so bad, then. I guess I'm okay with it."

"That's nice to hear. However, I have to warn you: you can simply forget having reached your current level of control. You'll have to start over again."

"What?" Naruto squawked. "No way, then. I'm not having the _Juunigyou Fuuin_ placed on me."

"Really? But if you managed to do it with the _Gogyou_, it'll be that much faster than the _Juugyou_. And it's also an easier road, so I reckon by next week you'll be able to fight on water, not simply walk on it."

"But I'm almost there already!"

Jiraiya snorted. "Feh! Almost there? You're grossly underestimating the task at hand. I'll admit, I'm surprised any Genin could possibly learn to partition their chakra in five. However, you still haven't nearly gotten the hang of the eight-to-five conversion. You have probably gotten some instinctive eight-way partition abilities just to become a ninja, and now you have gotten the five-way partition down. However, what you're doing currently is making the five-way partition and forcing the five streams through the _Hakke no Fuuin Shiki_, when you should be first making an eight-way partition, then recombine everything and then partition the whole into five. Assuming you keep progressing at the same impossible rate you've been going at, you _might_ -if only just so barely, but, still, you might- have mastered running on water by the start of the finals. Or you might not, and in any case, even if you tripled your progress every day over your current improvement rate, you still won't be able to fight on water. Your choice."

Naruto made a moue -he wanted a second opinion of his chances before committing himself to any path. Unfortunately, Ebisu was still out cold, knocked unconscious by Jiraiya's toad summons, and he was unlikely to reach the Hokage in time for this decision. After weighing the odds carefully for the next few seconds, Naruto nodded firmly. "Fine. I'll assume that what you said was true, in which case it'll make more sense for me to go with it. However, you will have to train me for the finals."

Jiraiya was amused rather than offended by Naruto's forcefulness. "And just why in the world would I want to train a snot-nosed brat like you? By giving you the new seal for free, I'm already doing you a favor. And that's on top of looking at this Sasuke's seal."

This last bargaining chip was a wrench in Naruto's plan. He'd planned to guilt-trip Jiraiya into teaching him because _the Juunigyou Fuuin_ would obviously be an experimental seal, and as such Naruto should have someone competent in _Fuuinjutsu_ to oversee his training should anything go wrong with the seal. However, while the argument still held, the crux of its power was stripped callously. Jiraiya obviously owed Naruto nothing; quite the opposite, in fact. Thus, Naruto bowed his head and grit his teeth before forming another plan, one that would have had him smirking were he capable of the expression.

"Ne, Jiraiya, the _Juunigyou Fuuin_ is obviously untested even on normal ninjas. So if you're to put it on me, you should stay during my training to make sure it's working as expected and is properly holding back the-... Ahem. You should be here to make sure the other seals are still holding up. But obviously you don't owe me anything, so you don't wanna spend so much time helping me. So here's my challenge. If I knock you unconscious or simply unable to fight back for a full second, you'll give me the seal _and_ you'll teach me. Otherwise, I'll do my best to learn control with the _Gogyou Fuuin_, as we know that this seal works on me. Deal?"

"Heh! Who do you think you are, challenging a Sannin? To give this challenge some semblance of fairness, I'll fight you blindfolded!"

Naruto panicked, though he was experienced enough facing down superior ninjas from his pranking days that he instinctively bluffed with a skill that poker masters would envy. "Oh no, I won't have you worming out of your way just 'cause you were blindfolded! If you want to be fair, just keep your summons away, unless you know you'll lose otherwise."

"Well, your funeral, your terms! Ready when you are."

Naruto flipped over to land on his feet and was satisfied to note that he'd gotten the exact space from the Sannin that he wanted. Good. Now, on to the plan itself. "_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_" Immediately, Jiraiya was surrounded by Narutos. The Sannin was not perturbed, however: it would take much more than a few hundred Genins (or was it a few thousand?) to faze him, much less delve into the more powerful jutsus at his disposal.

What he hadn't counted on, however, was that Naruto wasn't aiming for a physical brawl, or even a _ninjutsu_ exchange. Rather, he needed numbers to ensure victory in another manner. "_Harem no Jutsu!_" And Jiraiya went down in a pool of red.

* * *

"Geez! You'd think that a super-pervert wouldn't fall over completely from such an easy jutsu."

Jiraiya sighed. If Naruto couldn't train by himself when Jiraiya was out of commission for one reason or another, would he really be worth training? Then again, he did owe the kid. When the Sannin cracked open an eyelid, though, he was pleasantly surprised. Naruto _was_ training, even if his mind still wandered enough to grumble about "Stupid Ero-baka" while in the middle of the standard Academy katas. Jiraiya took the opportunity to observe Naruto's form. While not quite atrocious, it was still rather underwhelming for a Chunin hopeful. There were no glaring mistakes, no limb outstretched or balance tipped to a side, yet there were signs of ingrained bad habits surfacing every now and then. For instance, the current block veered off to the side before Naruto snapped it back to a proper guard position, and the knee was stationary for a hint longer than necessary. Whoever had helped Naruto was good, eliminating the extraneous movements. Yet more work was still required to get Naruto to solid Chunin level.

His observation completed, Jiraiya announced his return by groaning -quite loudly at that. "Kid, promise me you won't ever use that jutsu on me ever again."

* * *

The _Kyuubi_ managed to dismantle enough of its old cage to allow itself to break through should the opportunity to do so ever appear while keeping just enough of the structure so that the puny _ningens_ would never notice the difference. As it sat back with a blissful sigh, the five columns crackled and cracked with a screech and blue light pierced through the web of structural defects before diffusing across the short space into a formless mass blacker than the deepest abyss. The _Kyuubi_ crouched and back-pedalled, yet anywhere it attempted to retreat another tendril of the cursed _Shinigami's_ void cut off its path. Finally, even the _Kyuubi_ was envelopped entirely by the cold miasma, its boundless supply of youki confined into a dimension without space or time.

As the shroud relieved its oppressive presence, the _Kyuubi_ noted how the entire structure was changed. The cage so carefully and lovingly damaged was now back to a pristine condition, and instead of five pillars of doom commanding the entire chakrascape with their presence, twelve gates arched across the cavern. As the _Kyuubi_ read the inscription on each, its rage grew harsher and brighter, until it slowly built into a growl deep within its throat, a low sound that shook the very air in the entire chakrascape. Yet the _Kyuubi's_ rage would not be so easily quelled, and the _Kyuubi_ sent wave after wave of youki crashing against its prison, heedless of the familiar pain it was inflicting on itself.

Countless hours later, even an endless well of chakra such as the _Kyuubi_ was depleted of stamina. The _Bijuu_ growled at last, a deep, throaty growl that resonated with the floor and the bars of the _Hakke no Fuuin Shiki_, a growl that shimmered the air around and sent countless creatures running before it, a growl that should have cowed even his jailor while awake. However, rather than sending his chakra running amok, toiling and collide with everything and anything in the chakra coils, the _Kyuubi_ was ignored until, minutes later, another growl answered the _Kyuubi_. The growl of hunger completely foreign to the _Bijuu_.

The _Kyuubi_ ceased its antics, thoroughly baffled. What was the world coming to if the boy's love of ramen outranked rage from greatest of the _Bijuu_?

* * *

"Danzou-sama."

"ROOT espionage team four. Report."

"We have identified the corpse of ROOT operative #27. While his brain had been efficiently cleaned of all information, the hidden seal on his tongue was still intact."

No words were necessary when Danzou extended his hand, palm facing upwards. Because they were ROOT, the wily Konoha Elder knew they had retrieved the tongue and disposed of the body of their erstwhile teammate before anyone else knew of the death. And because they were ROOT, they knew they were to hand over the scroll containing ROOT operative #27's tongue and retreat silently. Thus, Danzou enjoyed the silence as he summoned ROOT operative #27's tongue from the scroll and deciphered the information contained therein. Unfortunately, nothing new was to be discerned: Orochimaru of Oto and the Kazekage were still planning to attack Konoha, though the number of assailants and date of the invasion were still unknown. It seemed he'd have to keep his agents on the ready status. Most troubling indeed.

* * *

"Alright, you got the sequence right. Let's see you try to summon some toads."

Inwardly, Jiraiya snickered, anticipating the tadpoles Naruto would be bound to summon. Or perhaps, given his tendency to overload his jutsus, he could even get a small toad on his first try. In either case, Jiraiya would be delivering the same speech he gave Minato, one berating a student without any talent at all.

The results, however, were drastically different from his wildest imaginings. Instead of a puff of cloud obscuring whichever tiny creature responded to the summoning, a huge explosion rocked the earth, spraying chunks of dirt and patches of grass flying everywhere and bowling over the legendary Sannin. Ten seconds later, Naruto fell down from the sky and thudded soundly with the softened earth. Though the landing was quite smooth, the boy's condition worried Jiraiya: a mangled stump now capped his right forearm, smoke still wafting through cracks in the blackened arm. Jiraiya nearly panicked before recognizing one way to save Naruto's career. It was a desperate measure, one that he normally would not recommend. The situation was however dire enough to warrant suspending his reservations.

"Naruto. Channel youki." Rather than complying, Naruto was staring shell-shocked at the stump laying where his right hand should have been, unable (or unwilling?) to comprehend the situation. While Jiraiya could certainly empathize with the boy's distress, Jiraiya's solution would be much more effective (and less dangerous) if Naruto acted as soon as possible. Therefore, Jiraiya walked up to the boy and with a silent apology to both the boy and his parents, he rapped hard with his knuckles on top of the unruly blond hair. Fortunately, that was sufficient to bring Naruto's eyes away from the mangled appendage and onto Jiraiya. "Naruto. Channel youki."

"Youki?"

"Naruto. Youki. NOW!"

Naruto blinked twice before suddenly the idea caught on. With the _Kyuubi's_ youki, he may just be able to regenerate his hand. The main problem was getting youki out of his navel and into his hand. Naruto remembered that Jiraiya mentioned a seal allowing youki to pass through -though filtered, of course. His conscious confirmation was however needed. Thus, Naruto focused on the feeling of rage, of the lingering bloodlust and insatiable hunger for mayhem and destruction that he'd noted when he came back to his senses on the bridge. Now, Naruto concentrated once more on the feeling, and miraculously, he could feel the foreign -yet not- chakra flow through his coils into the limb wounded beyond recognition.

And then, the forearm snapped and cracked, wracking pain radiating off the appendageinto Naruto's very core. It was by sheer force of will that Naruto resisted the call of Morpheus. He wanted to know if his hand would heal, and he wanted to stop channeling _youki_ should the former not happen. Naruto's vision blacked out for a moment before it restored to the sight of shredded flesh resetting itself and charred skin peeling off to reveal smooth flesh underneath, unmarred by the experience. Naruto gingerly twitched his fingers, and then rotated his wrist. Little by little, he confirmed that the newly sprouted hand was fully functional.

Jiraiya released a sigh he hadn't known he'd been holding, and felt weak with relief as anxiety flooded out of him. He couldn't have borne the guilt should Naruto's career end there. Yet as the crisis passed, relief soon turned into something else: confusion. "Alright, I'll admit it: I'm stumped. You have reasonable control over chakra molding and partitioning, enough that you should be able to engage in a low-level spar. I'd have thought you'd be able to fight for your life, but hey. It should still be quite enough to do the _Kuchiyose no Jutsu_. Most people don't put nearly enough raw chakra in it, and those who do don't put nearly enough of their spiritual energy into the mix. But that's obviously not what happened here. Let's see..."

With that, Jiraiya muttered under his breath, debating all manner of possibilities. Finally, he looked back up at Naruto. "Tell me, have you signed any other contracts before?"

"Other contracts? No I haven't. The Toad Contract is my only one! Unless of course, if the damned fox counts as one."

Jiraiya sucked in a sharp breath. "It... just might be that. Let me ask a Toad."

A short cry of _Kuchiyose no Jutsu_ later, Jiraiya addressed Gama. "Tell me, would Naruto's _tenant_ pose a problem with Toad Summoning?"

After croaking twice, Gama opened his mouth and retrieved the scroll, ostensibly waiting for Jiraiya to examine the artifact. When Jiraiya flapped open the document, Naruto's name was blackened, a snake criss-crossing it. "Hebi?" Jiraiya narrowed his eyes. While the anxiety had temporarily turned into scholastic interest, Jiraiya was less inclined than usual to hope for the best, and instead his pent-up emotions sought release in the form of anger. "Naruto, why would you have a Snake contract? Actually, not just a snake contract, but _**the**_ Snake Contract?"

"Huh? Snake? I have a snake contract? Eww!"

"Gaki! Insulting your previous contract isn't going to help you. It's really degrading for yourself, not your summons. You shouldn't have been greedy and tried weaseling a second one, not when _both_ contracts happen to have conflicting clauses of exclusivity. Thanks to your stupid overreaching grubby little fingers, you can now use neither of those contracts. In fact, you cannot use _any_ of the contracts in Konoha! You stupid, insolent, insufferable, miserable little _gaki!_"

"But... But I didn't sign a snake contract!"

"Don't bother lying. This contract is proof that you did. Irrefutable proof, I might add."

"But honest, I didn't! Orochimaru summoned this huge snake to gobble me up. _Jakai_, or _Jakotsu_ or something! And that snake gobbled me up, and I barely got out with that _Fuuton_ jutsu, and I would never ever want to sign a snake contract after one of them tried to eat me! I don't know why the Toads would think that I'd even want a snake contract when I was almost killed by one."

Jiraiya sat back, his steadfast belief that Naruto had signed the snake contract now wavering. He knew that Naruto had had a run-in indeed with Orochimaru in the Forest during the second test, and that Orochimaru had separated the blond from his teammates for a while. Was it possible?

"Gaki, when that snake ate you, did you happen to have cut yourself on something?"

"No... Or, maybe. I'm not sure. I was paying attention on how to avoid becoming snake chow, y'know."

Jiraiya hmmed thoughtfully. "I see. I'll have to converse with the Toad Elders. They may also wish to see you, to make sure your story is true. If they do ask for you, always, _always_ be polite. You won't like it if you're as disrespectful with them as you are with me. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah."

Jiraiya scuffed him behind the head. "I mean it. Don't do that when you're with them." After fixing Naruto with a stare, Jiraiya placed his right palm on Gama's back and both disappeared in a puff of smoke.

* * *

"Bad news, I'm afraid. The Toad Elders confirmed that you did indeed sign the Snake Contract while tumbling down _Jakai_. Unfortunately, the fact that it was inadvertent does not change its legitimacy, nor does it allow the Toads to rescind your Contract with them even with both parties' cordial cooperation. I'm afraid the _Kuchiyose no Jutsu_ just won't work at all, and you will be able to summon neither Snakes nor Toads. In fact, it isn't something you'll ever have access to, unless you find an Animal Clan that will not simply accept you despite your conflicting blood Contracts, but write out a contract that somehow breaks down space-time without using blood."

Naruto threw down the shuriken he was idly spinning in his hand. "Damn! How will I beat Neji, then? I've wasted half of the month just getting where I was before the Chunin Exams!"

Jiraiya stared at Naruto with a thoughtful frown. A few moments later, the Sannin shook his head. "How's your elemental training going?"

"_Fuuton_? I still can't completely cut waterfalls in half, but I can cut slow streams of water."

"Hm... So I guess those jutsus are currently out of the question."

Naruto's ears would have twitched were he a cat, or a fox. "Jutsus? What jutsus?"

Jiraiya waved his hand, dismissing Naruto's interest. "It doesn't really matter, does it? Asuma is busy with his team and especially with trying to get Shikamaru to train."

"Heh! The lazy-ass!"

"Lazy-ass or no, Asuma currently has his hands full. You'd need a good _Fuuton_ user to teach you those techniques, or you'd need a very developed affinity of your own. Neither option is available at the moment, so forget about those jutsus. I have something else instead -ways to train your chakra control until it becomes a weapon."

"Bah! Chakra control is all good and cool, and I'm all for improving it always, but it won't get me to beat Neji if I don't have anything I can use against him, not if I have nothing to use with the improved control."

"Oh? That's where you're wrong. There _are_ jutsus that depend entirely on chakra control. I'm sure you've seen the _Kouyou_ _Shuriken no Jutsu_."

"The what?"

Rather than launching into an explanation, Jiraiya simply dragged out into a low stance, sliding backwards with his right foot until the knee was bent to a right angle. Throughout the process, Jiraiya pulled back his right hand to the hip, palm facing upwards and fingers curling backwards into a tiger's-paw formation. His left hand was left to guard, bent at the elbow and palm facing down. What surprised Naruto, however, was the intense pull he felt from Jiraiya -nothing a ninja couldn't handle, but strong enough to suck in unprepared civilians and draw in all the fluttering leaves. And suddenly the left hand shot outward even as the right hand relaxed, and the leaves flew with surprising speed and sinking halfway through into solid oak trees on the other side of the clearing.

"The _Kouyou Shuriken no Jutsu_. The red leaf shurikens. I'll admit that the first step of pulling in the leaves and enemy was my invention. I also added some elemental manipulation to hold the leaf together. Otherwise, it would self-combust from the air friction. And I'll also admit that, unless you master _Fuuton_ better than even most properly aligned Suna Jonins, you won't be able to use this properly against Neji. But that was a jutsu of pure chakra control, used offensively. And _that_ is exactly my point: if you have enough creativity, chakra control by itself is a formidable weapon. Even if your opponent sees how you're doing what you're doing, he won't necessarily predict the outcome of your actions. And so, rather than wasting time with weak jutsus that you can master in time, or with strong jutsus that may not be learned at all, I will train you in chakra control. And we'll also work on your _taijutsu_. Questions?"

"Will you teach me your _Kouyou Shuriken no Jutsu_ as a chakra control exercise?"

"I'll teach you the elements you need. Whether or not you can do the _Kouyou Shuriken no Jutsu_ my way depends on whether you figure out the principle or not. Now let's get going! We've only got two weeks left, and you should rest for at least two days before your fight."

* * *

The _Kyuubi_ sat back on its haunches. Thus far the only time any cracks showed in his new prison occurred when Naruto needed his help to heal some damage to himself. Otherwise, the inner wall remained as formidable a barrier as before that fool Orochimaru applied the so-called _Gogyou Fuuin_. Yet the _Kyuubi_ would not waste its time waiting for its demise, or even lamenting the lack of opportunity for escape. Instead, it sat down with a gleam in its eyes. It would _study_ its prison, memorize and decipher the countless symbols running across the outer wall, and eventually escape with its findings.

* * *

A/N: Disclaimer: AspergianStoryteller was the inspiration for the scene wherein the _Kyuubi_ was overruled by Naruto's hunger.


	15. Ch14 Chunin Exams, Finals

Naruto was nearly hopping from foot to foot in his impatience for the finals to get started. He had almost succumbed to his nerves this very morning, despite having had a Sannin as his private tutor for more than half a month. He'd improved greatly, yet he kept doubting himself: was it really enough? Could sheer chakra control (or, as he'd been told, shape manipulation) be sufficient to defeat Hyuuga Neji? After spending countless hours practicing with shadow clones, he could pop open water and rubber ballons alike without much trouble now, but he doubted Neji would be as easy to defeat as hapless (and admittedly fragile) objects lying in his palms.

Naruto had an inkling that there was more to the tricks than Jiraiya had told him, yet he couldn't figure out the next progression, the element that would transform chakra exercises into a respectable jutsu. As it was, he realized he could still cause great damage if he could but catch enemies with the swirling ball of chakra. With an opponent such as Neji, though, the chances of doing so were negligible at best, unless he could somehow pin Neji in one place.

As it was, it took a pep talk by shy and reclusive Hyuuga Hinata to get him back into his normal self, with his exuberant persona on display for all and sundry. Not only did she remind him of his pledge, but also of his own Will of Fire. He _would_ protect those in Konoha, even from themselves! After thanking the quiet girl (and transporting her back to the hospital when she mysteriously fainted), he bounded off to the Ninja Arena. A staple of Konoha since its inception, the Shodaime Hokage had erected it with his Mokuton powers. A large structure of chakra-reinforced wood loomed over the hard-packed earth in the center, the walls covered on every visible surface by countless seals -protection seals, chakra-absorbing seals and the likes. After all, in a ninja battle, the collateral damage was bound to be much higher than in civilian fights when both opponents were aware of each other, and therefore facilities promoting such encounters had to be specifically engineered for this purpose.

Currently, though, Naruto was bored. The proctor for this stage was some chronically coughing Special Jonin, one who managed to transform a rousing speech prepared by the Hokage's own linguistic advisors into a foolproof cure for insomniacs. And then, suddenly, the blond heard the words he'd been waiting for during the entire ten minutes of presentation. "Ladies and *cough* gentlemen, kunoichi and shinobis, *cough, cough* I present to you the Final *cough and wheeze* Stage of the Chunin Exams. First *cough* up, Sabaku no Temari of Suna *cough* and Nara Shikamaru of Konoha. *cough* Will everyone else please *cough* clear the arena?"

* * *

Somehow, Nara Shikamaru managed to have himself cornered into a copse of trees, only to keep his opponent at bay with his shadows in a manner that made the audience question who it was that had fallen into the other's trap. Temari scowled at the stalemate: she could not attack him, not without revealing her lone long-range jutsu to remove those trees, and Shikamaru couldn't attack her if she stayed out of reach. She'd exhausted the attack patterns she had developed with Baki during the month-long break, patterns specifically designed to confuse shadows. Yet Shikamaru always managed to stay one step ahead while lodging heartfelt complaints at being denied the opportunity to watch the clouds. Clouds! She'd heard the proctor stifle a snicker and was prompted into trying out a fusion of two previous patterns, yet the Nara dutifully foiled her plan, nearly catching her with his _Kage Mane no Jutsu _while bleating about her making him miss a shadow-shaped cloud. It spoke well of Temari's skill that she managed to ignore the odd comment to blast herself backward quickly enough to flip out of the range of his jutsu.

Yet, all her acrobatics and _Fuuton_ jutsus seemed to have caused a spark somewhere in the boy. Shikamaru sank into the grass and formed a rectangle with his hands. Asuma smirked -it seemed his "lessons" had paid off and Shikamaru wanted the Jonin to get off his back by taking this match seriously. Temari, on the other hand, failed to recognize the threat she was in and simply renewed with attacks that left the audience gasping at how close she'd gotten to levelling Shikamaru's source of shadows. From there on, things quickly degenerated.

First Shikamaru initiated a plan complex beyond anyone's imagining and finally trapped his opponent using shadows from debris she had provided herself when she guilelessly fell into his plan, with much of the audience wondering whether Shikamaru simply won on sheer luck. And then Shikamaru surrendered, claiming that he couldn't possibly be bothered to walk to the side of the arena where his plan would have him knock out Temari. Absolute silence befell the entire audience, unable to believe the sheer _nerve_ of the boy at denying them a conclusive end to the fight, while one Jonin sensei hid his head behind his hands. Just when he'd thought he'd cured the Nara of his lack of enthusiasm by promising even more training should he fail to catch his opponents, the Genin outsmarted his sensei by catching his very first opponent and then surrendering.

The proctor quickly reviewed all of the guidelines and regulations, but found to his dismay that he was not allowed to force the Nara to prolong the match to its logical conclusion. After another round of hacking coughs, Hayate announced Temari as the winner of the first match and called Shino and Ino down to start the next match. Both Genins readily complied, much to the satisfaction of the audience, and the match was underway.

The combatants circled each other warily, aware of the tricks revealed by their opponent during the preliminary round. Ino broke the stare-off when she had her back in the shade of the very clump of trees that Shikamaru had used as his fortress during the previous match. She back-flipped even as she covered her opening with a volley of shurikens and landed with her feet on a low-hanging branch. From there, she hopped onto a higher branch, twisting in mid-air to avoid Shino's retaliatory projectiles buzzing past her previous location. When she attached her feet to the tree trunk, the kunais revealed themselves to be a mass of _kikkai_ insects. Their flight back towards Ino forced the latter to abandon her perch in favor of yet another branch.

This game of tag continued until suddenly Ino cut off her hair and flung the severed strands towards the arthropods swarming towards her. With her pursuers occupied by the distraction, Ino was free to leave _Bunshins_ behind as she darted among the trees. Soon enough, the _kikkai_ symbiotes had reoriented themselves and were once more seeking Ino, though the chakra constructs confused their senses. After all, the jutsu did leave both Ino's chakra and image behind, and it took Shino's intervention for his symbiotic partners to track Ino by scent. If his opponent were Naruto, the _kikkai_ insects would simply become more confused, as the Genin had learned to bundle smell along with sight. Ino, on the other hand, had yet to reach such a degree of proficiency with olfactory illusions and the colony once more flew in her direction.

However, the distraction had lasted long enough by then for Ino to prepare her offensive. A shout of "_Kouyou Shuriken no Jutsu_" later, Ino's strategy became clear. From her hands flew countless leaves first dispersing the insect cloud converging on her location and then towards Shino himself. Some among the audience gasped in surprise when the leaves burst aflame in the middle of their paths, yet most dismissed the effect. After all, the _Kouyou Shuriken no Jutsu_ was a common technique in Konoha, especially since it required neither _Katon_ chakra nor any special preparation, but merely proper chakra control to encourage spontaneous combustion. The secret: leaving alternating strips of chakra-enhanced and exposed surfaces in order to maximise air friction while pushing the projectiles to critical speed.

Shino, for one, was among those aware of the specifics of the technique and was able to perform it himself. However, he had judged it even less useful than the _Kikkai Kunai no Jutsu_ he'd performed at the outset of the match, as his projectiles served a greater purpose. However, Ino's choice of jutsu was vindicated when the _kikkai_ symbiotes started flying along chaotic trajectories to avoid the smoke left by the projectiles even after the flaming leaves were no longer there. Shino frowned as he took note of the effects. This would significantly hamper his previous strategy and therefore, ever one to listen to cold logic, Shino devised the proper manner to counter its effect: close combat.

The Aburame was upon his blonde foe in two strides and thrust out his right palm towards the kunoichi. Ino bent backwards out of reflex from the sudden movement, and was rather glad she did not have time to think as a spear burst forth from Shino's baggy sleeve. Before she could properly rejoice, however, the shinobi was once more upon her even as the spear retreated dutifully back inside the cloth. This time, the attack originated from a downward fist. Yet Ino felt something was off, as she knew Shino's _taijutsu_ to be above telegraphing his attacks with such abandon. It was this very caution that allowed her to notice the otherwise unremarkable twitch in his pinky, and thus to tuck herself into a roll underneath Shino's hand and away from the barely-materialized dagger now protruding from his left hand.

Now that Shino was certain of his adversary's knowledge of his secret _taijutsu_ helpers, he forewent the effort of masking the origin of his weapons, thereby allowing him greater flexibility in his choice of arsenal. A straight punch turned into a downward katana strike that Ino barely jumped over, and the resulting uppercut nearly forced the blonde to position herself straight in the path of a bo-enhanced sweep kick. The barrage pelted Ino with a continuous stream of ever-increasing repertoire of weaponry and sometimes even duplicated body parts. Soon enough, though, the Yamanaka had had enough of staying on the defensive. Much as Shino before her, she analyzed the situation and decided to try her experimental _taijutsu_ enhancers.

A nunchuk swinging toward her head was severed cleanly by the rebounding hair, though the success came at the price of a few millimeters of her unconventional weapon from the retaliatory kunai thrust. Shino's melee weapons were slowly but surely becoming depleted and Shino studiously noted how they were reforming slower and slower, almost as if their chakra was being sapped. This was enough to spark within Shino the groundwork for a new tactic, one as untested in the field as Ino's hair. To the Yamanaka's surprise, Shino leapt off from their branch when she swung her head around, hair whipping where his feet resided but scant fractions of a second ago.

Instead of merely hopping the minimum distance required, as ninjas were taught to do and as they had both shown during the entire _taijutsu_ exchange, Shino now jumped upward half again as he was tall -enough to clear beyond her standing reach, yet not quite enough to land on the branch overhead. His intention was revealed when he plucked three leaves with his right hand and four with his left. He then mimicked Ino's offensive from earlier in the match, though Shino skipped gathering sufficient ammunition before starting his barrage. The source of the deviation was shown when instead of bursting into flames, each leaf separated into two, and two into four, until countless projectiles were flying around her, each perfectly camouflaged by the leafy environment surrounding her.

Ino somehow managed to twist her way out of the vortex before she was shredded to confetti, thankful more than ever for her insane training regimen even as it wasn't sufficient to allow her escaping without several nicks from the ordeal. Both Genins took the opportunity to catch their breath while eyeing their opponent warily, each gaining new appreciation for the other. The moment of respite was suddenly spent and both finalists warped into motion, Ino with a sideways lunge for more leaves and Shino with his arms extended and _kikkai_ insects chittering from without his body, erupting from every pore and buzzing in the air around him.

The released insects darted as one toward Ino and masked the Aburame's own approach. Only the Yamanaka's _Kouyou Shuriken no Jutsu_ parting the veil of insects for but an eyeblink allowed her to dodge the roundhouse kick with a hasty bob of her head. The cloud of insects buzzing after her, however, forced her to crouch even lower before leaping overhead as soon as Shino's foot was no longer in the way. As she flipped, Ino renewed her analysis of the situation and concluded that her own progression in the final round was being severely threatened -enough to warrant unveiling her (civilian) mother's contribution from the flower shop, one that Ino had been given as her encouragement for reaching the finals.

At the apex of the jump, Ino unfurled her limbs and threw down three plant seeds, each as large as a shuriken. They had been bred over several generations and crafted lovingly, carefully, with input from Yamanaka Inoichi so that they would only react to Yamanaka chakra -and perhaps even more exclusively, to a modified version of the Yamanaka mind jutsus. Ino held her hands in a ready position, not at all bothered when her feet failed to find purchase on another branch. She was perfectly capable of landing on her feet at ground level, even if a tree branch would be appreciated.

Nevertheless, none of those thoughts distracted Ino -she had been given a supply of ten such seeds, and three had been the bare minimum necessary against a _kikkai_-wielding opponent. If she missed her chance now, she would have to waste a total of two thirds of her stash in her very first round. Therefore, she did not even blink until both seeds and target were at the optimal configuration and then unleashed her mind jutsu to the plant seeds. Vines immediately shot out and restrained the victim, even through the layers upon layers of _kikkai_ symbiotes writhing in and out of the vines. The cellulosic restraints held tight, however, and Shino was rendered montionless. Ino sighed in relief as she thudded onto the ground.

The blonde formed the handseal for the _Shintenshin no Jutsu_ and applied her chakra to it, eager to end the fight. The plants behaved as they were bred for and Ino's mind first transferred itself into the vines, searching for her target. However, all she could see were myriads upon myriads of tiny souls crawling within Shino's body, much as she expected, but Shino himself was nowhere to be found. It took another half-second before she realized that she was the one who had fallen into a trap by applying her _Shintenshin_ on a _kikkai_ clone. Ino retreated back to her own body, cursing all the way through, yet she gained consciousness back one second too late. Shino had locked her left arm behind her with his right one, and his left arm held a kunai to her neck. Currently, he tilted his head until his mouth was next to her right ear.

"I commend you for thinking to use mild gaseous chakra dampeners against the _kikkai_ insects, and thank you for being hiding your reasoning behind smoke and fire as well as for choosing dampeners over suppressors. However, I believe you have lost this fight."

Ino barked a rueful laugh. "I have, haven't I? Proctor, I give up."

Hayate cleared his throat before coughing twice. "Winner: Aburame Shino. *Cough* Of Konoha."

When the crowd cheered, Ino took the opportunity to address Shino. "I used a standard dampener. You can remove the effects by eating a soldier pill, or whatever the insect equivalent of it is. The dampening won't reassert itself when your chakra goes back down to normal."

"Thank you for the information. I will apply it as soon as possible."

* * *

Naruto could not decide whether he was excited or apprehensive. On one hand, he'd be fighting a Rookie of the Year, and one with an extra six months of experience to boot! How could the dead-last of his class possibly compare, no matter how much he had improved in the short months since his graduation? Yet on the other hand, he wanted to beat down the arrogant Hyuuga currently facing him. Everything about Neji rubbed Naruto the wrong way, from the aristocratic sneer to his condescending elocution. Really, who in their right mind would boast about seeing "with my all-seeing eyes that -" when all that was required was sufficient knowledge on human tics and habits, along with some heavy-duty perceptiveness? This seemed especially hypocritical when one considered the emphasis the Hyuuga clan put on their Byakugan: one simply did not strut one's abilities for all and sundry while simultaneously making a farce of one's _kekkei genkai_ by claiming its use when one could perform as well without its help.

Thus, Naruto refused to be baited when Neji started the match with some taunts directed at his unease. He may have been intimidated this morning, but no more. Instead, he focused himself as he'd learned to during the month since the preliminaries, ignoring his opponent's scowl when the psychological attacks failed. Naruto focused on a sole spot directly in front of his eyes before clearing his mind, such that everything would come to him, from the caress of the wind to the tiny beetle still chirping on the tree behind Neji. That was how he sensed Neji building up the chakra necessary to power the _Byakugan_, and how he detected the tiny burst of chakra emanating from the Hyuuga when the _doujutsu_ was activated.

It didn't matter, really, because by then Naruto had completed his own jutsu. Predictable for any who observed the preliminaries it should have been, yet Neji gasped when the _Byakugan_ was activated. He ostensibly hadn't done so during the preliminaries, and it seemed he would be in for a much rougher ride than anticipated: this wasn't the Academy _Bunshin no Jutsu_ or even the variant favored by certain Jonins, the _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_, but rather the _kinjutsu_-level tweak: the _Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_. Even more confusing for Neji was that each of the clones were identical, from the external appearance down to the size and placement of every single chakra coil.

The blond denied further musings on the matter as the assembled mass of clones rushed forward, engaging in a melee attack with not much more _taijutsu_ than he had shown in the Academy. With most Genins, or even the majority of the Chunin hopefuls without an area-wide offensive jutsu, such an attack would be sufficient to overwhelm their defenses by the sheer number of attacks coming in from all directions. Indeed, Mizuki had been overwhelmed by such an onslaught. Yet Neji could have stopped the charge in its tracks even back in the days when he graduated from the Academy. His lips now curled in disgust at having to face such reckless attacks. And to think he'd been worried for a moment!

Without even bothering to settle down into the _Jyuuken_ stance, Neji waited for the tidal wave of clones to reach him before whirling into a dervish of flying palms and whipping chakra. A cloud of smoke erupted around Neji, yet not even that slowed down the hordes of clones, nor did it lessen the staccato beat of the very same clones being dispelled. All the while, Naruto stood aside, his chin resting in an open palm while the blond closed his eyes. It seemed that he hadn't overestimated the Hyuuga's skills. Even without the _Jyuuken_ stances, the difference between their _taijutsu_ technique shone dismally despite all the hard work he'd put into learning proper forms.

Nevertheless, the clones he'd sent in with deliberately sloppy skills had managed to glean enough information before dispelling for Naruto to cobble together a plan to force the Hyuuga to resort to his _Jyuuken_ -and this without even showing his improved skills! Before the cloud dispersed, Naruto ran through ten unnecessary seals using one portion of his chakra before settling in on the final seal using the remaining four fractions. Even though the accounts of the _Byakugan_ that he'd read did not mention the ability to copy jutsus, Naruto was still wary and thus tacked on the unnecessary steps to foil the Hyuuga should he attempt the jutsu.

Clones once more spilled over the clearing, though with a notable difference: each one held two kunais in each hand.

Neji sighed when he noted this new tactic. "Do you really think that using weapons would help you?"

A resounding stream of yells answered him. As before, Neji stood tall as the mass of chakra constructs rushed in, only bobbing left and right as required to evade attacks while taking advantage of the momentum to methodically dispose of his foes. However, after a chakra-induced cloud covered him up, the clones started throwing their kunais around. At first, the Hyuuga sneered derisively at the boy's antics. What could he possibly hope to accomplish? While the Hyuuga could easily see through the cloud and avoid the projectiles, the clones could not and therefore would simply dispel one another without causing him any harm.

Or at least, that was the Hyuuga's assessment until the first volley neared him. The first problem with his analysis reared its head when the kunais didn't come near him, leaving him out of balance in mid-dodge. The second one appeared when Naruto emerged from the clouds of smoke that had envelopped the kunais. 'Ah,' reasoned Neji, 'so he used the _Kawarimi_ to get near me? This might be interesting.'

And interesting indeed it was. The third and final surprise came when two of the four clones attacked as recklessly as before while the remaining ones ran through the same eleven seals as before. And the clones he'd just finished popping reappeared, except that his hands were no longer in place to dispel them. Neji fumed as he was forced to resort to the prized Hyuuga stance. Forced by a dead-last, and with six months of experience less than he to boot! It never occurred to Neji to verify public records on the Uzumaki, nor did he remember a certain silver-haired boy's data cards. If he had, he would have known that Naruto was neither quite a pushover nor a dead-last. However, Neji believed in Fate, and that Fate would never pull a fast one on one of Its believers.

Unfortunately for the Hyuuga, his beliefs were insufficient to budge cold, hard facts -such as that he currently had to squat down into the wide stance of the _Jyuuken_, that he had to move at something approaching his normal sparring speed to avoid the fierce onslaught of fists and was utterly unacceptable, reflected the Hyuuga! Naruto was currently holding his own, or perhaps even taking the initiative if the observer were untrained, despite a complete lack of respect for the offensive aspects of _taijutsu_. Thus, when the current batch of clones was removed, Neji dashed towards the creator of the clones without bothering to hide his trajectory.

Much as he surmised, Naruto was unable to counter his burst of pure speed and left himself wide open to a flurry of _Jyuuken_ strikes. The ferocity of the attack was such that the first explosion of chakra was sufficient to subdue Neji's target, and the rapidity of the countless attacks such that the last of the sixteen blows had landed well before the clone exploded in smoke, much to Neji's bafflement. Whereas he had been snarling at every wrinkle Naruto threw on his perceptions of the veil of Fate, even Neji had to commend Naruto for his ability to think on his feet. When exactly did he substitute himself with a clone?

'No matter,' concluded Neji. And indeed, _when_ was much less relevant to the current situation than _where_. Fortunately for the Hyuuga, his birthright was ideal for answering such a question. Neji scanned the nearest clump of trees but failed to discern the distinctive pattern of human chakra. Methodically, carefully, the young prodigy trained his special vision on the adjacent copse before flickering his attention to the next one, and then the next until he exhausted all of the probable hiding places within the arena. It was then that he felt for the first time the pressure of winning this match. His opponent had proven himself worthy of the advanced Hyuuga techniques Neji had mastered, but that very honor would mark Naruto's downfall.

Or so Neji believed, right until he noticed that Naruto had dug out a hole underground and was stockpiling a great mass of chakra into a jutsu. Not for the first time, Neji wished that his _doujutsu_ could analyze handseals at real time. He would have to make do instead with his much publicized "genius" mind. It would obviously be a long-range jutsu, and one unimpeded by the mass of Earth between Naruto and his target. Perhaps a _Doton_ jutsu? Yet such techniques required elemental manipulation. While Neji at this point wouldn't put it past Naruto, the sheer distance made him leery. Perhaps the best course of action would be to bring the offensive onto Naruto, rather than wait for the jutsu to be unleashed.

Coupling action to decision, Neji sped off to the mouth of the tunnel Naruto had so generously provided. He certainly couldn't match Lee's unbridled speed even before resorting to the Gates, yet it was still quite a deal faster than most Genins could manage -indeed, even faster than most Chunins could dream of. As such, he wasn't particularly afraid of a counter to his own counter-attack, though he still kept Naruto in sight out of habit. After all, Maito Gai might be eccentric, but he did drill good shinobi habits into all three of his charges.

Somehow, despite his precautions, despite his analysis of the situation, Naruto managed to blindside Neji once more, shocking the Hyuuga into stopping his charge. The jutsu, whatever it was, was not unleashed on such a fast-moving target. However, rather than dropping all the work Naruto had spent on the jutsu, a clone hidden beneath Naruto that had somehow escaped Neji's earlier sweep of the ground raced through eleven seals and more of the thrice-damned _Kage Bunshin_ popped up in the impromptu tunnel. These newer creations wasted no time in multiplying their numbers until they reached the mouth of the tunnel. They created a defensive perimeter around the structure, one of such density that not even Neji could bypass it completely.

Neji shook his head. Naruto's sheer chakra capacity, blind and inefficient as it was, was proving to be quite the nuisance. Yet not even that would allow Naruto to advance, resolved Neji. He loped through the remaining paces separating him from Naruto's first line of defense and plowed through the clones. It seemed Naruto had been hiding his abilities earlier, as Neji was forced to slow down his charge. The difference was marginal, yet considering how Neji was now using the full complement of _Jyuuken_ techniques in his arsenal, even this achievement was rather remarkable. The low stance offered stability even as it allowed him to flow freely between the strikes, lashing out with chakra from every tenketsu possible to cover the entire surface of contact. It was designed to allow maximal speed while lashing out with _Jyuuken_ strikes, and it usually required someone of Lee's abilities to slow down Neji's charge.

Neji was well aware that he couldn't afford to dispel each and every single target standing between him and Naruto. He was well aware of his limits, and therefore knew that dispelling the clones was within his abilities, though bursting the clones the Hyuuga way would deplete his reserves to dangerous levels. A Pyrrhic victory at best, one that left him wide open for Naruto to finish at his leisure. Therefore, rather than shouldering the entire load of Naruto's formidable chakra potential, Neji slipped his way past the defeated clones to dart forward into the cave. However, whereas Neji benefitted earlier from his cross-arena movement to evade any jutsu Naruto may cast, he was now moving in a straight line towards his opponent. Whether Naruto realized the opportunity or whether he completed his preparations, the blond set about to form the remaining handseals of the jutsu and held his fingers in the Rooster formation a fraction of a second longer than his previous seals had taken.

Immediately, Neji brought about his defensive trump card, the _Kaiten_. He did not know what jutsu it was that Naruto had prepared, and he did not know whether Naruto was releasing the jutsu, but he did know that he had no wish to experience its effects. Not even an eyeblink later, the Hyuuga felt an intense battering on his rotation, nearly breaking through in several places before Neji brought out even more chakra while simultaneously reducing the radius of the chakra sphere in order to compress his shield. A few more moments of tense rotation later, the attacks from outside ricocheted away and Neji let out a sigh of relief. Never before had his _Kaiten_ been so challenged before, not even when Lee unleashed his full might on the jutsu in practice.

When Neji wound down from the rotation, he was once more able to view the world outside his sphere and was surprised to note that the tunnel itself had collapsed. Fortunately, he wasn't very far from the surface when Naruto released the jutsu, and his rotation had also protected him from the falling debris. He was now out in the open, the prized _Kaiten_ from the Main House displayed to all and sundry. Neji allowed himself a smirk as he imagined the shock of the Main House members -indeed, of the _entire_ Hyuuga household in the arena- when they saw his skill.

A shift in the rubble near Naruto's last known location alerted the Hyuuga to return his attention to the fight. It seemed Naruto hadn't quite knocked himself out. Neji was getting low in his reserves himself, as he hadn't planned for that _Kaiten_ when he started the fight. Neji was honest enough to admit that he hadn't intended to use even the famed _Jyuuken_ style in this match, never mind resorting to the _Kaiten_ in order to protect himself; these mistakes compounded each other and he was as exhausted in these few minutes as he would have been an hour later, had he paced himself properly. Currently, though, he had enough chakra for two more powerful jutsus, and he no longer deluded himself by underestimating his adversary.

As soon as a patch of blond hair peeked through the boulders, Neji hurled himself forward with a shout of _Hakke Rokujuuyon Sho_. This was his most powerful offense, and his acknowledgement of Naruto's skill. A barrage of sixty-four chakra bullets shot forth in six waves as his hands blurred into motion, closing down all the main tenketsus in Naruto's chakra pathways and robbing him of his ability to circulate chakra in his coils. A moment of stillness followed the end of the jutsu before Naruto fell backwards, flopping bonelessly onto his back even as Neji bent down, hands on his knees as he panted from the extreme exertion and deactivated his _doujutsu_ to conserve chakra, however minimal the drain to his eyes may be. Though Neji still had enough chakra to perform a few more jutsus, the strain was growing was glad that he hadn't wasted his chance with a clone, as he'd done earlier.

Yet Naruto surprised him once more, this time by asking about his hatred of the Main House. Neji would have spat on the ground were he capable of summoning the energy to do so. As exhausted as he was, however, the Hyuuga merely contented himself by explaining the structure of the Hyuuga clan and the sordid story of how it lead to his father's death, inserting his views on Fate and the universe in general where appropriate. As an after-thought, Neji briefly removed his hitai-ate, displaying his _Hyuuga Souke no Juuinjutsu_ to confirm his story. To his surprise, Naruto looked very intently at the seal before a frown scrambled the blond's expression until indignant fury could be seen.

"Who the _heck_ would do that to their own family? That just... isn't right! It's just as bad as you nearly killing Hinata when she didn't have anything to do with you."

A vein slowly bulged on Neji's forehead. "Nothing? Hinata didn't have _anything_ to do with me, you say? Fate has decreed that she be born into the Main House, just as Fate decreed that she be kidnapped by Kumo, and that Hiashi-sama would kill the intruder, just as..."

"Oh, woe is me," Naruto interrupted, his sarcasm sufficient to stop Neji's rant in its track. "Will you just listen to yourself? You're a snivelling coward, that's what you are. Did Hinata ask to be kidnapped? Did she ask that Hiashi kill her kidnapper? Did she ask your dad to offer himself up? Huh? Did she?"

"Fate decided -"

"Shut _UP_ about Fate," roared Naruto. Were he not deprived of direct control over his chakra, the entire stadium would have felt killer intent leaking through. "Fate this and Fate that. Nothing's ever about people with you, is it? You had to beat her up just 'cause Fate wanted it? That's just plain ridiculous. _You_ felt cheated by life, _you_ were jealous so _you_ took it out on Hinata when she did nothing against you. If you were cowardly enough to do that, at least own up to your own mistakes!"

"My own mistakes? _My_ mistakes? What mistake pray tell are you talking about?"

"You hurting Hinata because she told you the truth, that's your mistake."

"The truth? What would _you_ know about the truth, you dead-last? What would you know about being unable to move forward because of something out of control, because you were born when you were born? How would an idiot like you know anything about having seals branded on you to make you a slave?"

"You think I don't know anything?" Whereas they were both hollering out their lungs but a moment ago, Naruto's voice had just frosted over, silent and deadly. Neji preferred the shouting. "Unlike you, I can't tell you anything. Me, a dead-last? An idiot? Not really, but most people think so because _I_ have a seal too. Only mine isn't as easily ignored as yours, and it's certainly not as benign as yours."

Neji almost shouted back at Naruto. Almost. The sudden splash of icy coolness in Naruto's voice egged him to out-think his adversary, however, and suddenly so many _faits accomplis_, so much that he'd taken for granted didn't seem quite so two-dimensional anymore. Naruto had somehow made him look at the situation from a new angle, and Neji wasn't so sure in his worldview anymore. Naruto had indeed been labelled a deadlast and an idiot both, yet quite obviously wasn't either of those. His match against the _Kouton_ user should have warned Neji, as should have Kabuto's data cards had he paid any attention, yet it was his own match that eloquently illustrated just how far above his assumed level Naruto had become in just a few short months.

And then, there were also the venomous glances that Naruto regularly shouldered from nearly the entire populace of Konoha. Neji had long since noticed these discreet signs of disapproval, furtive yet no less potent for it. Indeed, as observant as he was, recognizing the phenomenon had been but child's play. However, he'd always attributed it to the combination of Naruto's prankster streak and his lack of scholastic achievement. Now that Naruto pointed it out, though, it had become glaringly obvious that the reaction was disproportionate to the crime.

And Naruto had all but openly pointed Neji to the source of the blond's issues -a seal of some sort, if he were to be believed. Short of unspeakable crimes such as Orochimaru's infamous love bite (and even then, the evidence was disputable), what manner of sealing could be possibly be worse than Neji's Caged Bird Seal? Curiosity may have killed the cat, but the cat never did learn its lesson. Thus, Neji once more engaged the _Byakugan_, only for Naruto to glare at him.

"Taking the coward's way out again, are you? You were going to try to convince me that your seal is somehow worse than mine, and because of that you were right about doing those awful things to your own cousin, weren't you?" In truth, that hadn't been Neji's conscious rationalization. However, Neji was shocked into staying silent long enough for Naruto to plough on. "That means you still don't get it.

"We're ninjas, Neji. _Ninjas!_ Civilians may do things like that, I dunno, but _we_ can't. When we put on the hitai-ate, we become adults, we _are_ adults. We are supposed to be above stupid little tantrums like the one you threw. Maybe you'll find that you really believe that your seal is worse than mine. Whoop-dee-doo! So what if it's worse than mine, by some random miracle? Do you really think that _that_ means you're allowed to just hurt whoever happened to cross your path? That's just... cowardly, pushing your troubles on the first scapegoat available just 'cause you can't face them yourself.

"You make a mistake, you own up to it. You're dealt a bad lot in life, deal with it. Don't just spread misery around. Everyone has something they don't like; nobody's ever led a perfect life. Blaming innocent people just 'cause they're convenient scapegoats ain't gonna help you with your problems."

"What would you know of scapegoats? You claim to have a seal worse than the Caged Bird, yet you are free to do what you want, free to pull pranks on whoever crosses you whereas I am shackled, much as the Caged Bird seal intended."

"Free? I am free and you're not? That's just ridiculous! You can still be free, even with the seal. Freedom is what you choose it to be, not what others give you." Naruto stared Neji in the eyes, and Neji forgot who still had the ability to mold chakra when determination hotter than fire and harder than diamond shone through the brilliant blue irises. "One day, I'll be Hokage. And when I do become Hokage, I promise I'll change the Hyuuga clan structure. It's just sick, putting a seal like that on your own family, and it's also sick to make them think they have no freedom."

Goosebumps had crawled along Neji's skin at the tone, at the conviction, yet his mind still rebelled. "Hn. How can you possibly hope to become Hokage when your skills are so pitiful? I'll admit that they are well in excess of my expectations, but then again, considering what my expectations were, it isn't hard to do that. But now you've lost the match, and there's nothing you can do about it. Even igniting explosive tags requires chakra, and you can't access any chakra at all. You might as well surrender."

"Heh. You think so? Is that the conclusion from your 'genius' analysis, thoughtfully dumbed down so that a dead-last can understand it? Well, thank you for the effort. But don't count me out just yet!"

And with that, Naruto reached deep into himself as he'd trained in the last month, and for just one flicker of time, rather than struggling against the foreign chakra sealing up his tenketsus, he simply stopped molding chakra. Much as he'd expected, Neji's chakra lost its foothold and instead dispersed into the chakra coils, leaving Naruto free to expel all sixty-four portions of intruding energy by channeling chakra in five partitions. Neji's eyes widened: no one had ever managed to slip past the effects of the _Hakke Rokujuuyon Sho_, not when the technique had been successfully delivered. Or rather, not without the user's permission, and Neji most certainly hadn't loosened his hold over the chakra restraints.

Yet Naruto had done the impossible. With less than a second to spare, Neji suddenly realized that Naruto was about to attack him. He slipped past the volley of clones, unwilling to risk the _Kaiten_. While the long lull in fighting had done wonders for his failing reserves, Neji knew how much chakra the technique devoured, and was unwilling to let himself be pushed so close to his limits. Neji opted instead to rely on the insane _taijutsu_ training Maito Gai demanded of his pupils, flowing through his assailants and navigating his way towards one particular blond who seemed strangely independent. In order to conserve chakra, Neji even stooped so low as to throw a kunai to his target as he flipped over the back of a clone.

The proper Hyuuga method would have been a _Hakke Kuushou_, one of the tricks he had yet to reveal to Naruto. The technique was well within his limits, and even with his dwindling reserves he could perform it several times yet. However, the Hyuuga had learned to be wary of Naruto. He'd already revealed most of his trump cards, and there was no need for such a risky maneuver if the Hyuuga could resort to use the popular alternative. Furthermore, given how easily Naruto had shrugged off the _Hakke Rokujuuyon Sho_, perhaps it would be better to avoid using supposedly invincible techniques if at all possible. One humiliation was enough.

Yet mere moments later, Neji felt himself humiliated yet again. Naruto had outwitted him, luring him out with a clone that somehow feigned damage by allowing a kunai to penetrate through his clothes without being injured. And Neji had fallen for the trap, even with his _Byakugan_, and was now the target of countless kunais whistling by. It never occurred to Neji that this could simply be the result of simple luck followed by fast thinking.

With his _Byakugan_ active, it was easy to keep track of every single projectile, and his genius easily supplied the movements necessary to evade them with minimal effort. However, his _Byakugan_ also registered that several clones were hanging back, fingers flying through a jutsu. He could try to avoid the jutsu, much as he'd been able to evaded death by impalement since entering the mire of Naruto's firing squad.

However, the jutsus were likely to be broader, faster and deadlier than the metal tools he now faced. Could he truly rely on pure speed in those conditions? As doubt crept in, Neji's dodging and weaving turned circular before he realized, and he smiled when he did. Perhaps that was the best compromise: to refrain from the familiarity of the absolute defense, yet be able to skip the initial momentum-building revolutions should he be forced to activate it. Naruto, however, seemed aware of this ploy, as the clones scowled before dropping the molded chakra. And suddenly, one raced through the seals for the _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ only to dispell the clone as it was formed. And once more, the octet of Narutos went through the earlier sequence, while another one approached him.

Neji was wary of the tiny tremor tugging at Naruto's lips. What was the wily blond's plan?

* * *

Naruto had been incensed by Neji's callousness and the Hyuuga's clan structure both. One most certainly did not excuse the other, and he _would_ change things once he became Hokage. The status quo was not simply inefficient, but it was inhumane. Treating your own clansmen as slaves! That would most certainly not be accepted during his reign.

And then recess time was over and the match started anew. He'd almost forgotten about Neji's insane skill level during their break, but now he was once again forcefully reminded of how much work was still before him. Even when cornered, he still couldn't take down the Hyuuga! He summoned a few clones for the express purpose of nailing Neji with the _Repputoppa_, but had to stop mid-way through the seals. It seemed Neji had seen him and was now ready to spring into the _Kaiten_ at a moment's notice. If a _Kaze no Teisei_ couldn't pierce through Neji's ultimate defense, how could a simple C-rank hope to crack that shield?

And then, something that Jiraiya mentioned wafted through the web of thoughts rampaging through his mind. Shape manipulation by itself was sufficient basis for jutsus. The most advanced example he'd been offered was the classical _Jyuuken_ strike, targeting the victim's tenketsus and restraining the chakra therein using shape manipulation. As Naruto could attest to, the _Jyuuken_ strike and the _Jyuuken taijutsu_ style went hand in hand, the low form and fluidity of the stance allowing for quick flashes of chakra snapping forth at any moment while allowing soft deflections of attacks through rotation. Indeed, the _Jyuuken_ was deserving of the praise the textbooks described.

However, that was not the extent of what Naruto had seen in this match. Neji also demonstrated the power of shaped chakra when manipulated into a tight sphere, paper-thin yet strong enough to withstand a fully-formed _Kaze no Teisei_. But what would happen if instead of attacking using a frontal assault such as the aforementioned jutsu Naruto formed another chakra ball; one that Jiraiya had shown in during the month of training? Unlike the wind-based jutsu Naruto had previously launched, the chakra ball would not dissipate upon contact with the chakra barrier. At the very least, Neji would be forced to perpetuate the much more chakra-draining _Kaiten_ to prevent Naruto's attack from approaching, and with the _Byakugan_ surely Neji would understand the dangers of letting that ball anywhere in his vicinity. Perhaps there just might be a weakness to Neji's jutsu, after all: shape manipulation pitted against shape manipulation.

The first order of business, then would be to have Neji locked in a _Kaiten_, and then to clash his own form of chakra sphere against Neji's. To do so would require precision timing: he would have to keep Neji occupied until Naruto himself was ready to attack. On second thought, Naruto decided that a clone would perform the initial strike, with Naruto following shortly afterwards. He did not know the effects of pitting two such jutsus against each other, and the result could differ quite considerably from his analysis. Yes, Naruto decided, that would indeed be the wisest course of action. A quick _Kage Bunshin_ later, all of the clones were aware of the new plan. A smirk almost appeared when he imagined Jiraiya's reaction, but he restrained it just before it could blossom into a full smile.

Currently, he focused. First he created a messenger clone that he immediately dispelled. The information sharing was confirmed when the clone in front of him started gathering chakra and swirled it in his palm. Soon enough, Neji suddenly erected a chakra barrier in mid-twirl, the _Kaiten_ fully solidified as soon as he initiated the jutsu. The clone wasted no time to approach Neji and compressed enough chakra for a blue ball to be visible even to Naruto's normal eyes. When he slammed the whirling construct against Neji's defensive perimeter, three facts stood out to all observing ninjas, including both Naruto and Neji.

The first was that the rotations were somehow compatible with each other, Neji's counter-clockwise one complementing the clockwise revolutions of Naruto's jutsu. The second were the differences in physical properties. Neji's ball of chakra was bigger than Naruto's. Much, much bigger. Indeed, the disparity was such that even accounting the much thinner layer of chakra in Neji's _Kaiten_, Naruto's clone would still hold overall the denser ball of chakra if given otherwise identical parameters. And the third observation was that Naruto's construct also moved faster. Whereas Neji was constrained by his body mass, Naruto had no such restriction, given that chakra had no mass. Or rather, to be precise, sometimes it did and sometimes it didn't, depending on who measured which properties of which type of chakra in which way. At the current moment, however, this more thorough answer would simply detract from the negligible mass of Naruto's chakra as it clashed against Neji's.

And clash it did. At first contact it sped up strands of chakra from Neji's _Kaiten_. However, this created a void that prompted the neighbouring strands to fill in, causing them to rebound against each other even as Naruto's jutsu was pulled in, creating an island of ultra-dense chakra. Neji's _Kaiten_ forced Naruto's ball to compress even harder, becoming dense enough to drill through metal for one moment. Indeed, the impact from this recoil was forceful enough to dispel the clone, and Naruto suddenly gained an insight into the mechanism behind the jutsu, a secret that cost Neji countless hours of furtive observation to decipher. What lent the _Kaiten_ its resiliency, even when faced against stronger attacks that should have overwhelmed the rotation (such as Naruto's failed attempt at unravelling the defensive jutsu), was its ability to self-regulate, to provide a feedback loop destabilizing any incoming attack.

Yet on the other hand, concluded Naruto, that very self-regulation could become a liability. With this in mind, he broke the ranks of his clones to charge at the glowing blue ball with a maelstrom of chakra in his right hand and another one in his left, both rotating clockwise. He hit hard with his right and, as before, the feedback loop threw his hand backward. Naruto had however anticipated this reaction and instead of being thrown off, he diverted the momentum into a rotation that sent his left hand chakra-first into a collision with a wall of Neji's chakra. This forced Neji to whirl faster and faster to keep up with the tangential speed of Naruto's chakra balls. However, even though the disparity in speed was reabsorbed by the increased speed of rotation, islands of ultra-dense chakra started forming. Rather than dissipating into the greater population of loose chakra, the repeated attacks encouraged the _Kaiten_ to become less cohesive to the point where the pulses of chakra became too pronounced to be contained. Naruto's balls, on the other hand, kept compressing until the entire structure was stabilized. Neji's jutsu faltered against this new battering ram, destabilizing until it exploded in a burst of pressure that dispelled Naruto's clones even as studded strands of chakra whipped about, flaying Neji and Naruto alike while they were both propelled out of range.

Naruto had some residual chakra in his hands to soften his blow. Neji did not. Naruto was the first back on his feet, and he limped toward his opponent. Neji managed to prop himself on his haunches by sheer pride of his abilities, of his vaunted genius and superior blood. When Naruto crossed third of the distance separating the two combatants, Neji let loose a hail of shurikens -his last projectiles. Some hit their mark, including two in Naruto's left thigh, but most strayed far from their target. Weaponsmistress as teammate or no, fatigue willed Neji to become sloppy in his _shurikenjutsu_ technique. Yet Naruto still marched on despite his new injuries. When half hte distance was crossed, Neji panicked and shot a _Hakke Kuushou_. Where he managed to squeeze the chakra from Neji would never know. What he did know, however, was that he had not aimed poperly in his haste, and Naruto merely stumbled to fall backwards before rolling back to a standing position, resolving to evade the next time Neji shot his palm forward.

Yet Neji never did, content with simply cocking back his left palm while his right hung limply at his side, the angle somehow off. When Naruto was within distance one minute later, Neji shot forth, palm leading the way. Naruto had wisened to his tactics, however, and a simple twist of the torso was enough to send both Genins tumbling down, Neji cushioning the landing for Naruto. They rolled on the ground, unable to halt the inertia. Along the way, Neji fired two bursts of chakra from his shoulder and fired another _Hakke Kuushou_ from his knee. Naruto was sent tumbling overhead, out of control. That he retrieved a kunai in the process was entirely an accident.

As soon as the tool was in his hands, though, Naruto knew what to do. When Neji neared the end of his roll, Naruto threw the kunai towards where Neji's head would be a half-second later. Neji caught the projectile as anticipated, though he failed to note that Naruto was now burning his way through seals. By the time Neji stood up, Naruto launched a _Repputoppa_ at the Hyuuga. With the _Byakugan_, seeing the path of the chakra-laced wind was an easy task. Dodging, however, was not, and Neji instead intercepted the incoming jutsu kunai pointing outward. However, that had been Naruto's intention, and the blunt end of the weapon was slammed into Neji's hitai-ate. The latter was unconscious even before he fell to the ground.

* * *

"Quite an exciting match, wasn't it, my fellow Kage?"

"Indeed, Kazekage-dono, both combatants displayed their skills quite admirably."

"I look forward to seeing more of this Naruto. To think that he could overcome the famous _Hakke Rokujuuyon Sho_, while supposedly having a restrictive seal! Perhaps the ultimate offense of the Hyuuga isn't quite so perfect after all, don't you think so? Or at the very least, the version used by this so-called Branch Hyuuga isn't quite infallible."

"May I respectfully remind Kazekage-dono that no Hyuuga ever claimed any of their jutsu to be perfect?"

"Oh? My esteemed colleague, I seem to recall Hyuugas claiming their jutsus were vastly superior. To be precise, wasn't that one of their claims when they wished to bypass Academy education?"

The Sandaime shook his head. "Kazekage-dono, I commend you for your in-depth knowledge of Konoha clan history, though I'm afraid I must bring some precisions to light. The Hyuuga did indeed wish to avoid sending their children to the Academy, and they did claim that the clan-trained _Jyuuken_ was a more adequate basis for forming ninjas than the Academy syllabus. However, at no time did they claim that their jutsus were superior, only that they formed a stronger foundation than the Academy would."

"Ah. I thank you for the clarification, my fellow Kage. I will make sure to revise the relevant archives."

"Indeed, that would be appreciated, Kazekage-dono. After all, we wouldn't wish for inter-village relationships to be strained on the basis of a misunderstanding, do we not?"

"Of course not, my dear Hokage. But about that match, aren't you worried about foreign villages learning of this development? I do believe that a little tighter control over your subordinates would be expected."

"I assure you, Kazekage-dono, I am as bewildered as you are by this development. No one was ever recorded to overcome the effects of a successful body-wide tenketsu attack by _Jyuuken_. I believe this may be Uzumaki-san's own development. I doubt many will be able to replicate the feat. As a case in point, I am unaware whether Uzumaki-san himself would be able to replicate his achievement."

"Hmm," agreed the Kazekage after a pause. "That is most interesting, my esteemed host. I will make sure this novelty will be properly recorded in my annals. I believe his name is Uzumaki Naruto? I also noted his use of the _Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_. Quite unorthodox for a Chunin-hopeful to have such reserves. I wonder what other surprises he may have in store."

"I believe that his reserves would be less unusual than seeing a Genin with Sand manipulation, Kazekage-dono."

"Ah, are you referring to little Gaara-kun, my own son?"

"Yes, Kazekage-dono, I do believe that would be his name."

"Dear colleague, surely you wouldn't expect the Sand village to be bereft of Sand manipulators, would you? In any case, I am most keen on seeing who is the stronger: Gaara-kun and his Sand, or Sasuke and his Sharingan."

"Oh? Has Sasuke attracted the interest of the esteemed Kazekage?"

"Indeed he has. I seem to remember him making the news when he graduated at the top of his class, just like his brother... Itachi, was it?"

"Unfortunately," the Sandaime answered after a sigh, "Uchiha Itachi turned out to be a traitor. I do hope Uchiha Sasuke will be more loyal."

"It would be quite a pity if Sasuke became a traitor as well. Speaking of Sasuke, wasn't his Jonin sensei renowned for being late?"

"I see that his tardiness has travelled across borders. Indeed, that is one of his more recognizable traits. However, he has an impeccable record when the situation is of sufficient significance."

"I see. Quite an interesting assemblage of ninjas you hold, my fellow leader. Let's see how the fabled Sharingan fares against Sand manipulation, shall we?"

* * *

Danzou growled, the low rumbling resonating across the multiple caverns of this current lair. It seemed that Orochimaru had disguised himself as the Kazekage -the _Kazekage_! Fortunately, this bit of information had arrived early enough that Danzou could salvage whatever advantage this new development wrought. It was obvious that Orochimaru had somehow disposed of the Yondaime Kazekage and usurped the position as his own. It followed that Suna would act according to the Snake Sannin's wishes -namely, the entire might of Sunagakure would be aligned with those of Oto against Konoha.

While the Oto forces were still something of a mystery, especially with regards to the detentors of the Cursed Seal, Suna was a much better characterized variable. At least, that had been the case prior to Orochimaru's intervention. Assuming the worst-case scenario where the Hidden Village emptied itself of all ninja in favor of an all-out offensive against Konoha, the combined offensive would certainly be sufficient to topple the regular forces defending the village, even with the increased security inherent to hosting the Chunin exams. Thus, if that were the case, his Ne forces would be required to hold the situation long enough for the reserves to come into play.

In the best-case scenario, Suna would only bring that which could be spared, leaving the village safe against other Great Nations. In that situation, the invaders would require some sort of tactical advantage to take over Konoha before the reserves were ready. The very presence of the Chunin Exams was such an advantage: the main actors could easily bypass Konoha's barriers and initiate the invasion from the inside while troops outside heckled the defensive perimeter. It seemed that in either case, his secret forces would have to work alongside the Hokage's weaklings for the good of Konoha. Thankfully, Danzou was wily enough to minimize such fraternization through careful management of his forces.

"Ne operative twenty-seven, gather all operatives from all cells. We are facing imminent invasion."

* * *

Neji was very thoroughly surprised when Hyuuga Hiashi visited his nephew while the latter was recovering from the intense match. What shocked him further was that Hiashi then knelt down and begged the young Branch Hyuuga's forgiveness before explaining the full situation of the incident leading to Hizashi's death so many years ago. The Hyuuga Clan Head then retrieved by a letter written by his Neji's father right before he departed to Kumo. Neji's thoughts wandered, unable to cope with the stream of paradigm shifts with his customary focus and level-headedness. A few minutes later, a smile slowly formed on his face, the first since his father's death.

'Naruto, perhaps you are right. Perhaps I should stop obstructing my own flight.'

* * *

A/N: In the previous chapter, I had forgotten to mention AspergianStoryTeller as the inspiration for the Kyuubi-overruled-by-Naruto's-hunger scene. My apologies to AspergianStoryTeller.

A/N2: Thanks to Kaze Bunshin for pointing out a typo in Ch1.


	16. Ch15 Oto Invasion Pt I

Eight Oto shinobi were sitting in a forest clearing, cross-legged. Each clenched a scroll between their teeth and kept their fingers locked in the Ram seal. As always, they were the grunt soldiers, barely worthy of any notice. Unless, of course, someone made a mistake, whereupon they would be considered to have committed the most heinous of crimes: disrupting Orochimaru-sama's plans.

Nevertheless, these ninjas held fast to their oaths and stayed by Orochimaru's side, even as their numbers succumbed to the Sannin's paranoia. Lately, their Otokage hadn't even deigned show himself when purging the ranks from traitors real or imagined: that task was slowly delegated to some bespectacled youth, someone who took entirely too much pleasure at whittling down candidates for this particular task. As such, it was a wonder that there were even eight who still qualified for the Summoning Ritual, much less eight who were trusted enough to each hold of a fraction of the seals encapsulating Orochimaru's own blood.

A more talented _Fuuinjutsu_ scribe probably would have managed to transcribe the arcane symbols required for Summoning their target directly from its inter-dimensional confines. Orochimaru would have none of it. While the seals themselves were above what Orochimaru could be bothered to puzzle out, his stint in Akatsuki had left him with ample reserves of money -more than sufficient to anonymously hire a qualified expert. However, to do so would imply extending his trust to each of the group, in a manner reserved only for Kabuto and his Sound Five, now reduced to a working set of Four since Kimimaro's medical condition.

These eight ninjas would never complain, of course -either about their numbers or about the power distribution. They knew the power of the Oto lieutenants, and they knew the risks of the Cursed Seal. Even with so huge a power boost as it offered, none of them would be able to credibly challenge any of the trusted few even were they to survive the process. Thus, it would make no sense from their standpoint to volunteer for Orochimaru's _Juuinjutsu_, and they resigned themselves to accomplishing grunt work. After all, every army required the services of foot soldiers, regardless of the commander.

And mere thugs they were in comparison to even the Common Troops, never mind the Elite. Though all eight had reached Special Jonin level in fighting ability, the Common Troops consisted of startlingly few so-called Chunins. And indeed they were quite ordinary by most standards -except that each had a Cursed Seal and was therefore guaranteed to obey Orochimaru as well as the chakra capacity required to sustain the seal, even without the first transformation. Those with control over the second stage of the seal's infection were the Elite, while the few with useful jutsus complementing the second transformation were recruited into Orochimaru's personal entourage.

The sole exception was Yakushi Kabuto. Somehow, the Konoha double-agent managed to outrank even Kimimaro despite the absence of a Cursed Seal. The few times he'd deigned to show his skills were however quite sufficient to quell any resentment the underlings currently toiling in the trees on the outskirts of Konoha might hold. And toiled they did, their chakra swelling in anticipation of the upcoming task even as the platoon of Common Troops sneered down from their comfortable perch in the trees. The chakra requirements for the summoning could have as easily been met met by two or three ninjas from the Common Troops. However, they lacked the control necessary to coordinate their efforts and thus were forced to mingle with "the grunts".

Currently, a signal rippled through Konoha, clearly detectable even from this distance. All eight soldiers ignored their surroundings and channelled pent-up chakra through the scrolls as they flapped open. They landed exactly as expected, completing the scribbles inscribed upon the ground itself, and the symbols merged and glowed blue from activation. The first phase was complete, and Orochimaru's blood now primed entire seal array. The Chunins pushed still more chakra, however, to pull over the Summons. Suddenly, resistance to their pull dropped and smoke puffed all around as waste from the chakra expenditure. A tongue flicked out of the cloud, wide as a man and long as a tree. A snake head folllowed the sensory organ soon after, towering well above the trees before two others joined it.

Yet none of the ninjas present showed the slightest sign of fear, or even surprise. They simply leapt into formation, one Common Trooper on each head and half of a platoon on its sinuous body while the rest cleared out of its way. The snake had ostensibly been informed of the plans beforehand, as it now slunk its way across the forest, devastated vegetation laying in its wake while ninjas hopped alongside it. Their mission had officially commenced, and they would not fail Orochimaru. Today, Konoha _would_ fall!

* * *

The Chunins along the great walls of Konoha sighed. As one of them recently noted, the Uchiha would be participating in the Chunin Finals. The Uchiha! With an active Sharingan!

Of course, that Konoha had seen unusual activity was cause for concern, and the guards were debriefed on the scraps of information allowed. Though Chunins and thus privy to more secrets of the village than mere Genins, much still was withheld. It appeared that this was one more such case.

However, they were expected as Chunins to be able to sift data to reach an appropriate conclusion. In this case, they were simply told that hostile factions had managed to slip through the gates among the legitimate examinees. As one of the major Hidden Villages, and indeed widely recognized as _the_ leading ninja power, Konoha had its share of enemies. The exam would simply be one of the most logical choices if one were to attack Konoha. However, the Chunins knew that the reputation of the Leaf was built upon solid foundations, that their strength was not all on paper. It followed that such attacks would usually be insignificant.

The matches of the final round, however, were not quite so. Even in regular years, the public matches of the Chunin Exams were always a spectacle to behold. Not only was it the only time to safely observe a no-holds-barred fight between two ninjas, but the previous rounds would filter out the unworthy. All ninjas of the host village traditionally dropped all duties if at all possible to attend the event. Those with guard duties typically grumbled, but fulfilled their roles with minimal fussing.

This year, though, none of the sentries were inclined to accept their fate quite so readily, for this year Sasuke Uchiha would sit through his first and possibly last Chunin Exam. Konoha prided itself on its strength of the bloodline-bearing ninja clans, and the _Sharingan_ was one of the most celebrated _kekkei genkai_ in the world. Most of the sentries hatched ploy after ploy to gain a seat in the stadium, be it through bribery or blackmail. Most also acknowledged defeat honourably after sentry duty was officially assigned.

One member of the group, however, had fully made plans to attend the finals before a suspiciously convenient sick leave left a vacant spot in the roster, one that Jin was forced to fulfill by order of Hokage. Thus, Jin had more details on hand, including the troubling detail of the Uchiha's opponent. "I've heard that Uchiha Sasuke will be fighting against Sabaku no Gaara from Suna. Supposedly he's a really tough ninja; went to as many C- and B-rank missions as most rookie Chunins and never suffered a scratch in his entire life. Some sort of absolute defense; sand, if I'm not mistaken."

"Feh! Doesn't matter if he can't touch the Uchiha. I've heard he activated his Sharingan. Wish I could see it."

So engrossed in their conversation were they that they missed the chakra build-up even after it dispersed into the Summoning jutsu. What did return their attention to their assigned task was the crash of uprooted trees. By the time they turned their gazes, Orochimaru's triple-headed snake was only one stride away from the group, and already coiled to destroy the wall with an overhead smash. All three Chunins leapt away, two to the right and one to the left. In the excitement over the snake, however, one Konoha nin neglected to scan the surrounding foliage. His mistake cost him dearly, as a senbon felled him in mid-air.

His colleagues heeded the warning he unwittingly provided and twisted out of the way of the projectiles headed their way. In doing so, they failed to account for a safe landing site. Jin was fortunate enough to find a nearby boulder to shield himself. His companion, on the other hand, had no such luck. Both hands blurred as he parried the incoming threats, barely sparing the time to form thoughts. His instincts as a Chunin took over instead, and those screamed at the need for reinforcements.

"I'll hold them off," he whispered even as his body managed a fair imitation of a pincushion. "I'll be fine for a short while yet. Go sound the alert."

Jin huddled a moment longer behind the boulder. His knee-jerk reaction would have him interpose himself between his comrade and the incoming weapons. As he was still in good health, he would likely last longer under fire. However, because he was still relatively fresh, he should also be the one to retreat in order to sound the alert. After all, whoever was left behind would most certainly die before long. Yet independently despite arriving at his partner's conclusion, the Konoha-nin couldn't force himself to take that first step, couldn't bear to lose his teammate to certain death.

It took the shadow of Orochimaru's summoned snake arching over him before his body moved of its own accord, leaving his long-time friend to a gruesome fate. By long practice, he managed to evade the threats now heading his way without looking back, lest his resolve falter once more and the sacrifice become vain. For that very reason, he never saw the sole remaining Chunin fall down less than a minute later, nor did he see ninjas slithering about, dispatching many an invader without ever being detected, as unremarkable yet as vital to Konoha as the tree roots of their namesake.

* * *

Sakura was shocked by how hard Naruto managed to push Neji. At first, it was clear that the genius had talent, experience and hard work to his advantage, easily toying with Naruto without even resorting to the dreaded _Jyuuken_ style. Truly, he was a genius, perhaps even on par with Sasuke-kun himself!

At least, it seemed so until Kakashi had commented on Naruto's growth in the short span of a month. It was a subtle difference, but after careful observation Sakura noticed Naruto had been holding back on his _taijutsu _-having seen the blond in action, she knew his skills were superior to the amateurish display down below. Indeed, Kakashi's assessment was proven when Naruto dropped his act. Punches were suddenly sharper, and strategy replaced the haphazard attack Sakura had just seen. Even Neji was now taking Naruto seriously, judging by his use of proper _taijutsu_ form. However, even with the sudden boost to Naruto's skills, Neji seemed to be barely moving at all. The stance was perfect for defensive maneuvering, allowing the older ninja to flow between evading Naruto's clumsy bumbling and lashing out with precise palm strikes. The forest of clones was easily reduced to tiny floes peppering the arena here and there.

The match followed in the same vein before Naruto retreated underground. Neji followed in after Naruto, but the latter countered with some sort of wind jutsu that collapsed the entire tunnel, and half again as much of the surrounding grounds. Sakura frowned in thought. That certainly wasn't the _Repputoppa_, as confirmed by Kakashi's mutterings. When indeed did Naruto learn a jutsu that could devastate such a large area? And then, Sakura's vision was drawn to that of the sole circle intact within the destruction and she went to question about _this_ jutsu instead. That must be a very powerful defense indeed, considering how the jutsu had easily crumbled hard-packed soil several meters deep. Even Kakashi gasped before filling in the blanks. Apparently, that was the _Kaiten_, an absolute defense taught only to Main Family Hyuugas.

Sakura frowned while analyzing the peculiarities of the _Kaiten_ still swirling around Neji. The sheer size of the chakra structure was intimidating, and the very thought of producing chakra over such a large surface was sufficient to engender a phantom headache in Sakura. The tint of the chakra, and the sheer transparency of it, seemed to indicate neutral chakra, therefore one without a polar opposite to capture its weaknesses. While normally it would also entail a lack of an edge to the chakra, a biting flavor present in all charged chakra, the fast rotation combined with the thinness of the chakra shield would amply compensate by retaliating harshly against any intrusion.

The sheer control required, however, was even more mind-boggling than the raw quantity required. Even if she could easily generate such a dome, holding it for the duration of one eyeblink would test her concentration to the point where the flow would be shaky at best. To both output chakra of this magnitude and mould it into a sphere while carrying a complex, chakra-driven motion spoke well of the Hyuuga's ninja skills. At the back of her mind, a niggling voice also added that it spoke well of Naruto's skills for him to have forced proud Neji to use such high-level skills. However, Sakura squashed that voice as effectively as Naruto's hunger had overcome the _Kyuubi_'s grumbling inside the _Juugyou Fuuin_.

The two combatants lapsed into a curious rest discussing some matter, though it was too far to be heard in the stands. Spectators both ninja and civilian were becoming restless by the time the match resumed. The explosive movements from both ninjas fortunately sated the audience's thirst for action. Sakura was impressed when Naruto overcame Neji's swirling defense by utilizing its own speed against itself, though the indiscriminate fury from backlash of the destablized chakra dome caused her to revisit her opinion slightly. Even Kakashi had dropped his "hip" act for a moment while he gasped and goggled at the feat, though the silver-haired Jonin was quick to regain composure. After all, it wouldn't do if Gai ever saw his "eternal rival" as anything than utterly apathetic.

In the end, Naruto showed sound strategy to finally subdue his opponent, combining several tactical elements to knock Neji out. In retrospect, the maneuver, safe as it was, was simple enough that Sakura wondered why he hadn't tried it from the outset of the match. Indeed, Sakura was certain Sasuke would have decisively ended the match in that manner were he to face Neji.

Then again, perhaps not, mused Sakura. She remembered how Sasuke had fought Gaara in the Forest, and how he'd snubbed a significant tactical advantage in the form of _Naruto's Fuuton_ jutsu. She also remembered that angry scowl marring his face, that reckless savagery it pledged. Sakura knew that Orochimaru's seals weren't necessarily evil simply because he was -her own seals were proof enough. Thus, she was able to permit Sasuke the benefit of doubt. Perhaps the total abandon of moral restraints she'd felt from Sasuke was warranted given his opponent, especially given that he was protecting two teammates with his actions. That Naruto had ended up having to save Sasuke was dutifully and very deliberately ignored by Sakura.

Currently, the object of her infatuation jumped down across the rails, flipping through the air and landing with nary a hair out of place. He looked as composed as ever, even when Gaara flickered to view from within a tornado of sand. The two stared at each other, facial expression entirely blank yet emanating a thick miasma of killer intent. Sakura watched his neck anxiously, wondering whether the seal would take over once more. It stayed thankfully inert. Thirty seconds into the stare-down, the proctor coughed into his hands.

"Right. The last match of the first round: Sabaku no Gaara of Sunagakure no Sato versus Uchiha Sasuke of Konohagakure no Sato. Begin!"

Despite the match officially starting, both ninjas remained motionless, placidly building up the killer intent until it reached levels typically achieved only by Jonin-level ninjas, levels that Sakura simply could not comprehend. Just as in the previous clash, when Kakashi and Zabuza had congested the very air with killer intent, the pink Genin now found that even the pleasantly cooled air in the stadium was heavy and scalding. And then, suddenly, the menacing aura shimmered before disappearing entirely. At the same moment, Sasuke lept into the air before vanishing in a burst of speed that nearly had Sakura squealing in delight. His sandaled foot immediately collided against a wall of sand that blocked his path with no warning. Yet this much Sasuke seemed to have expected, rushing away once more with untraceable speed to the other side of Gaara. His fist met a similar makeshift obstacle on the other side of his opponent.

This was part of Sasuke's plan, Sakura was certain, and he lulled Gaara into complacency. From Gai's commentary, it would seem that Sasuke hadn't achieved Lee's reckless pure speed quite yet, but had nevertheless compressed years' worth of speed training into a single month. Sakura had to agree with Gai's assessment: while Sasuke forced Gaara's first line of defense to its brink, he hadn't breached it as Lee had. Surely Sasuke knew this, and so would Kakashi. After all, Sasuke wasn't subject to the same restrictions as Lee, and it would not make sense to devote all of the training time in increasing his speed. Thus, Sakura was not surprised when a _Goukakyu_ materialized in mid-air.

Before the pink-haired Genin (or indeed, much of the audience) was able to even see him spouting the fire jutsu, Sasuke had already raced to the other side to launch another fireball. Sand rose to meet the first challenge, as expected, and it immediately poofed away in a plume of smoke. The second was trickier, however, as Sasuke himself closed in on his target at the same moment. Gai approved noisily, gesturing and smiling as he commended the Genin on choosing to sacrifice power over speed. Kakashi seemed utterly disinterested, preferring to scan the audience instead.

Slowly, with a mix of _taijutsu_ and _ninjutsu_, Sakura witnessed the defensive perimeter csliding back toward Gaara under the relentless assault until it stood barely two feet away from his body. Gaara, who had had his abilities taxed only by the strongest of elite Suna Jonins, started becoming anxious, and even Sakura could discern signs of his agitation in the way his head turned this way and that, much as a trapped animal would. Unknown to anyone, however, rage swelled alongside anxiety, and Gaara was becoming unstable when Sasuke reached the third phase of his prepared battle tactics.

Shurikens and kunais now joined the fray of random attacks. And then, suddenly, the incessant downpour of fireballs, projectiles and _taijutsu_ attacks ceased entirely. In its stead, Sasuke spouted a new fire jutsu, the _Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu_. It was then that the separate tactics made sense, from the severely weakened fire jutsus used earlier to the seemingly pointless weapon attacks. The first wave of pure _taijutsu_ was meant as a probe, a simple measure of Gaara's automatic defense. The second wave was tempered by knowledge gained earlier, and confined Gaara's defensive perimeter to close quarters. This in turn enabled Sasuke to throw weapons, allowing him to covertly thread the sand with ninja wire.

The wire was what Sasuke sought during the totality of the operation. Sakura gasped with the rest of the assembled spectators when fire spread down along the wire. Gaara's sand had rushed up, but the fire, rather than dispersing upon collision with the particles compressed harder than ceramic, glided along the narrow path of the ninja wire. Faster than an eyeblink, Gaara was now wrapped in a shell of fire, and Sasuke finally shed speed in favor of power. Though the sand would protect him from the heat, Gaara would still be unable to draw oxygen. Unless he could forego breathing, it seemed the stalemate would be in Sasuke's favor: beyond the air blown to initiate the jutsu, the fire was sustained by chakra generated by Sasuke's fingertips and thus would persist long enough for Sasuke to inhale a few gulps of air before starting anew.

Twenty seconds after the raging inferno wrapped around Gaara, two events registered in Sakura's mind that would puzzle her long after the end of the exams. The first was Sasuke finally -_finally_- engaging the Sharingan, two tomoes inscribed in each iris. While Gaara had indeed not attempted a single offensive maneuver, Sasuke's speed had not yet reached the point where he could be assured of precluding such attempts. If Sakura were entirely truthful with herself, she would admit that Sasuke's self-confidence had become a liability in the form of overbearing arrogance.

The second event, trailing the first by an infinitesimal slice of time, was the explosion of sand beneath the cocoon of Sasuke's fire. Motes of red-hot silica and wisps of fire and smoke sprayed every which way in a symphony of dissonant colors. Sakura could feel the rush of hot air blasting her hair backwards even removed from the site as she was, sitting in the sparsely populated section reserved for eliminated participants. To her surprise, even Sasuke tumbled backward, though she noted with pride how he managed to tuck into a tight roll, three kunais springing from his form at the apex of his rotation.

This time, Gaara did not have the luxury of his outer sand shell to protect him, his weapon of choice being dispersed as they were in his bid to free himself from Sasuke's trap. The first projectile thudded soundly into his forehead, the ceramic of the inner armor easily absorbing the shock of his collision. The second projectile, however, hammered the very same point as soon as the first projectile cleared enough space, and the third pressed the second one with even more force. To Sasuke's credit, all three kunais were thrown with the trademark Uchiha skill. Not only had all three had landed exactly as intended, but there was still more force behind the measly wrist flicks than many adult ninjas could summon with their whole body. Stress lines crept along the protective armor before pieces flaked off from Gaara's face.

By the time Gaara had retrieved the special sand back to his face, Sasuke had landed on his hands thirty meters away. Sakura held her breath, prepared for the worse. Yet her bated breath was wasted. Sasuke dug a dust cloud behind him as he launched himself feet-first toward his opponent, and furious blows rained down on Gaara. The latter had no experience with dodging as his absolute defense had never before been discarded of his own accord. However, his outer wall was currently in tatters around the ring, the particles too hot to summon near him, and the uncommon projectile attack had left a chink in his inner defense. While the spot on his forehead had been properly hidden, he had yet to pack enough chakra into the sand to regain his normal invulnerability.

Sasuke was unwilling to let him complete his defense. Relentless as a waterfall, the Uchiha dogged Gaara's every step. His eyes could easily track the weak spot even without the aid of his _doujutsu_, while the month-long speed training allowed him to sidestep Gaara's clumsy form with ease. Gaara's drunken form stumbled about, pummeled with concussive blows from every direction. Sakura finally allowed herself to relax. By her analysis, the Uchiha had bagged the match without even resorting to that unnatural power boost.  
Unbeknownst to her, however, was the power of Gaara's rage, roiling from deep within and growling louder with every passing second, insanity bubbling off in peals of giggles punctuating the _ostinato_ chant of blood-blood-blood. Soon enough, emotions boiled to critical status, and leeched past the threshold of his seal and into his _Bijuu_. The reaction was much more explosive than anyone could have predicted, and Gaara was drawn into the vortex of rage and madness that was his tenant. As a result, he lost all motor control and his form went limp, all pretenses of _taijutsu_ now gone, as was Sasuke's Sharingan. When Sasuke stilled his fist in mid-punch, Gaara fell down in a boneless heap. Sakura cheered along with much of the audience.

The proctor was much more cautious. Like Sasuke, he had felt the anomaly, subtle as it was. He took one step forward, loathe to disturb a match under way without a compelling reason. Gaara's current incapacitation would normally be construed as such a reason. Hayate's experience stilled the reflex: shifts in chakra signature should never be dismissed with quite so cavalier a manner. Indeed, that was Hayate's motivation for approaching the prone Genin with some trepidation. And then, another shift occurred, one much less subtle than the first. Hayate gulped, hard enough for Sakura to see. Most of the audience was still oblivious, yet some of the more perceptive and close-seated ninjas (such as Sakura) could now detect even from as far as the stands the telltale chakra signature leaking through, the traces of corruption amid normal chakra.

What happened in actuality befuddled Sakura, who had believed the match in favor of Sasuke despite Kakashi's tense form. The Suna ninja suddenly opened his eyes wide, a dangerous yellow tint shining from his irises. He screamed. The sonic disturbance was sufficient to knock Sasuke backward, head over heels, and uproot fully-grown trees from the stadium to smash them hard enough to crack the _fuuinjutsu_-reinforced walls. By the time things had calmed enough to see further than ten centimeters beyond the walls, Sakura saw a ball of sand. A giant ball of sand, some of it still radiating heat yet most of it cool, standing in the middle of the arena. As the winds from the single scream dissipated into wisps of dust, a sand-stalk sprouted from the top of ball, and bloomed into... was that an eye? Yes, Sakura concluded, an eye bloomed at the top of the stalk.

Said eye now swivelled from side to side, tracking Sasuke's mad dash with ease where even Sakura was unable to see him. Several spikes shot out from the sand, and all the audience could suddenly see the Uchiha breaking to an abrupt stop, his hitai-ate touching the lethal protrusion. A cloud of dust, and the scene repeated on the other side of the ball of sand. This time, Sasuke back-pedalled at a leisurely pace, unruffled by the monstrous chakra building up behind the closed dome. The Uchiha clambered up the arena walls backwards, keeping his eye on the structure below even as the eye of sand stared back at him.

A few meters from the top of the walls, Sasuke was satisfied with the distance he'd gained -by his estimation, it was enough for him to accelerate to Lee's normal speed without weights. He then flipped through eleven seals before bracing his right shoulder with his left hand. Strain etched across his face, Sasuke concentrated his chakra, much as Gaara was doing. Slowly, painstakingly, Sakura saw a blue flicker arcing from Sasuke's palm, right before she heard a single buzz, percussive in its brevity. When she started doubting her sanity, another blue lace shimmered in and out of existence, and then a third. Soon, the buzzing became continuous even as a hazy blue ball formed in Sasuke's palm.

The buzzing increased in volume and pitch, until it became a continuous screech that forced many a spectator to shield their ears. The ball had grown into a wreathing mass of electric tendrils yearning for release, licking anything within a meter and carving a deep gouge in the chakra-reinforced walls. Sakura was able to place the only other time she'd heard such a racket even before Gai let slip the name of the jutsu, and was surprised that Sasuke was able to master the Chidori in just one month. After all, Kakashi's favorite jutsu couldn't have been an easy one to learn.

Currently, Sakura saw Sasuke re-engage the Sharingan. What no one had predicted, however, was the extreme reaction of a partially-released _Bijuu_ to its long-lost _doujutsu_. A shriek pierced the air, enraged and utterly mad. The cocoon collapsed only to burst back in size, morphing into a half-hybrid fusion between Gaara and the _Ichibi no Shukaku_. Even the _jinchuuriki_'s teammates were taken aback by the crazed look on his (its?) face. They were used to Gaara's obsession with bloodthirst and his Mother, yet this went beyond his fixation. Currently, it seemed as though Gaara were simply no longer there, even as the Ichibi didn't care about freedom, about release from the confines of its seal.

While the Konoha Genins were unaware of the significance of this development, even they were taken aback. From the unblinking eyes, bloodshot sclera surrounding dilated pupils, to the tic pulsating down the sand-melded arm the size of a tree trunk, there was no doubt that Gaara had been preparing some jutsu under the veil of sand, some jutsu that involved an extensive modification of his physical appearance. Ominous tremors propagated through the stadium as Gaara took lumbering steps toward his opponent. Even considering the brute amount of chakra pushed into the activity, Gaara reached his opponent much sooner than expected.

It was only by virtue of the predictive quality of the Sharingan that Sasuke noted the incoming threat, and his extensive experience evading threats in his peripheral field of vision that moved his body sideways before his brain caught up with the danger of an overhead claw smashing down on him. The monster beside him didn't let up, however, and swatted at him with the same attacking arm. Sasuke now had to force himself to his full speed to vault above the arm, then roll beneath the follow-up sweep. He was however unable to dodge entirely the sand-enhanced uppercut that sent him flying across the arena.

Sasuke flipped in mid-air to land with both feet firmly stuck near the upper edge of the walls. He once again rushed through the same series of eleven seals as before and braced his right shoulder. This time the Chidori sprang to life within a few seconds, and with it the infernal screech filled the arena once more. Just in time as well -Gaara had reached the bottom of the walls, mouth busy with mumbling some indistinct words. Sasuke propelled himself downward faster than gravity alone would allow. He swivelled to the side to avoid a spiked claw, then hopped over some sand projectile to fall directly onto his opponent.

Gaara had shifted his body to avoid the incoming blow. Sasuke was unable to hit his original target (the heart) from his downward trajectory. The shoulder, however, was still within reach. Without thinking about the consequences, as typical of Chidori strikes, Sasuke landed heavily on Gaara's sand claw and leapt for the shoulder. Normal chakra-reinforced rock would have simply shattered from the recoil of Sasuke's propulsion, yet Gaara was merely tugged toward Sasuke, much as the latter predicted. His lightning cut through the dense armor of sand, clearing just enough path for him to break through.

Sakura would have squealed, except that she felt strangely tired. Her eyelids seemed leaden, and her interest in the match waned. Her rational analysis was quick enough to conclude a _genjutsu:_ there was no way she could possibly lose interest in Sasuke's match, not without an external influence. She forced herself to go through the motions despite her drowsiness and dispelled the illusion. She immediately wished she hadn't: in the arena, both of Gaara's siblings had jumped down, in addition to their Jonin instructor. Up in the Kages' box, there was a massive burst of smoke into which two kunais flew in. Sakura tracked backward from the most probable trajectory and found one spectator in the civilian audience. Clearly, it was a ninja in disguise -no civilian should be able to stay awake through the _genjutsu_. Speaking of which, Sakura turned around, only to find most of her colleagues firmly ensconced in deep sleep.

* * *

ANBU Tiger couldn't quite believe it -someone had managed to throw the _Nehan Shouja no Jutsu_ over the entire stadium. It was a _genjutsu_ designed to put people to sleep spread over a wide area, yet never before had he seen it stretched to this extreme. From the tilt of operatives located on the other side of the building, it was clear that they were as gobsmacked as himself. Yet there was no time to dispel it, as he had to focus on the _jinchuuriki_-in-formation below. If the transformation progressed any further, he would have to interrupt. At the moment, however, Sasuke seemed able to manage on his own against the partially-transformed Suna _jinchuuriki_. Or at least, the Genin managed to survive without suffering life-threatening or debilitating injuries.

His responsibilities as ANBU captain required of him to constantly spare an eye for his leader, however useless such a measure would be under normal circumstances. After all, one must be a powerful ninja if one wished Hokage candidacy. Furthermore, the Sandaime had ordered personal bodyguards along, for good measure. However, despite these precautions and more, ANBU Tiger found his glance still flitting over to the Hokage box out of habit. He had already returned his gaze downward when he did a double-take and looked back. The Kazekage was holding the Sandaime hostage!

The ANBU captain now found himself in a quandary: should he stay in the stadium to monitor Suna's _jinchuuriki_, where his special abilities would particularly well suited to handle the situation, or should he rush to the Hokage's side? He observed the match below once more, noting how Sasuke's breath labored. Yet there was still steely resolve underneath, the will to continue the fight still burning strong in his veins. Suna's other Genins, as well as their instructor jumped down into the stadium, while the proctor moved in front of Sasuke. ANBU Tiger was about to move in when the unexpected sprung on him: the Suna Genins left with the _jinchuuriki_ in tow, their Jonin instructor facing off against Hayate to prevent pursuit.

And now there were no impediments to his actions, no conflicting courses confounding his decision.

He motioned with one hand behind his back and both ANBUs stationed in his segment of the stands departed with him. They chased the fleeing Kazekage, his bodyguards not bothering to slow down the pursuers. Soon, the reasoning behind this quirk was revealed: the four minions positioned themselves around the two Kages and activated a purple barrier. One ANBU was foolish enough to attempt crossing the perimeter before the barrier was fully erected, heedless of his captain's orders to stand down.

Those who remained would certainly not commit the mistake of insubordination, not for this particular edict. The ANBU had immediately burst into flames as he breached the protected surface, and had died even before the purple veil had bisected his body. It seemed the purpose of the delimiter was more of a helpful hint than a menacing presence, a possibility ANBU Tiger had evaluated and concluded probable enough to warrant delaying the offensive in favor of a more comprehensive analysis. Since one member valiantly sacrificed himself, however, such analysis has become moot.

ANBU Tiger knelt down. He would of course ensure that the barrier was indeed as thorough as he would expect from the Kazekage's personal bodyguards, and he would stand at attention as long as necessary, perhaps even beyond those limits. However, the situation just turned into a long and arduous one. He might as well enjoy a Kage-level battle from the safety provided by the very jutsu that pre-empted his interference.

* * *

A rush of air alerted Sakura of possible incoming threats. A quick analysis -performed automatically by her subconscious, over before Sakura could possibly register the waves of synaptic activity involved- concluded that the possibility of threat was very much a priority. Yet by the time she jerked her head around, two Oto ninjas were nearly upon her. The best -only- defense at her disposal at the moment was to simply hunker down with her head below both hands: not only would it allow her to roll with the blows that would surely come, but it exaggerated her helplessness, possibly leading to errors from her aggressors. After all, unarmed as she was and without the time to prepare _genjutsu_ or space to evade, she was as harmless as Academy entrants. Her only possibility lay in sacrificing minor wounds in exchange for mobility.

Yet the blows she expected (and the painful death that those would probably entail) never came to be. Another whoosh of air was felt instead, and Sakura could hear a blade slicing through flesh twice in quick succession. She lifted her head, hopeful, and was gratified to see her sensei standing above her. From the stains of blood on his otherwise immaculate vest, Sakura deduced that he had already been fighting off the aggressors for quite a while. But who were they? She'd seen Oto nins so far, but what could possibly motivate a new Hidden Village to attack one of the Five Great Shinobi Nations?

Kakashi interrupted her thoughts. "Sakura, we are being attacked by Suna and Oto. I don't know what they're up to." Somehow, Kakashi managed to maintain his bored drawl and apathetic expression even while single-handedly taking care of all attackers. Currently, though, his face sobered as he gazed straight toward Sakura -apparently, he had reached his main point. "I have an extremely important A-rank assignment to give you; one as important and as dangerous as the Wave mission. You are to head to the competitors' box, and wake up Naruto and Shikamaru. You will then take them to Sasuke and stop him from reaching Gaara."

"Gaara? Isn't he just..." Sakura looked down as she was about to point to the Suna nin. Only Baki and Hayate remained, however. "Huh? He isn't down there?"

"No, Sakura, he isn't. I don't know where he is, but Pakkun will tell you." Seeing Sakura's confusion, Kakashi used his bare hand to grab an enemy kunai and wrench it from the Oto nin's grasp before knocking him out with the newly acquired weapon. Kakashi threw the weapon haphazardly behind him -or so it seemed until it sank handle-deep into yet another Oto nin hidden within the audience. The silver-haired Jonin formed five handseals and struck an ambushing ninja with his injured palm. The ninja was disoriented long enough for black lines to spread across his face. The resulting poof of smoke was sufficient to knock him out, revealing a pug at the same time.

Kakashi resumed without breaking his movement, casually dispatching opponents left and right. "Pakkun here can track Sasuke for you. You are to go with only Naruto and Shikamaru, but you may awaken other Konoha ninjas if you find any others on the scene. Don't waste time doing so, though, just awaken those directly in your path. Also, be careful. There are enemy ninjas lurking everywhere. Pakkun will help guide you through the safest path, but you must still be careful. Questions?"

And indeed there were questions Sakura wished answered. Why should they stop Sasuke? How would Shikamaru help in their endeavor? Why not complete their team to a full four-man squad, as the studies presented in the Academy concluded was the optimal size for a small team? Sakura was certain that Kakashi would know these answers. However, she also understood that time was of the essence, and therefore her teacher most probably hadn't revealed this information due to time constraints. Thus, Sakura quelled her curiosity and simply shook her head.

"Good. Now go!"

Sakura took advantage in the momentary distraction of the enemy ninjas to depart. There was one who managed to slink near her, but Kakashi disposed of him with a well-timed kunai. Sakura scampered around the Oto nin, opting to abandon her slumbering colleagues in favor of reaching the alleyway connecting the eliminated competitors' box to the waiting room of the remaining contestants. Even without the reminder, Sakura was aware that she would have to deviate significantly from her path were she to wake them, and Kakashi would both ensure their safety and rouse them at the first occasion.

And thus she reached the box, only to find it empty except for Naruto and Shikamaru. She first dispelled Naruto from the _genjutsu_ and managed to stall his questions long enough to kneel behind Shikamaru. After a brief surge of anger at his laziness, she calmed herself and merely shook him until he gave up the pretense. They had a situation to contain, and insufficient time to waste. She revealed just enough to get both Naruto to follow her while Pakkun doggedly bit Shikamaru until the lazy Nara agreed following them would be less troublesome, whereupon she explained what she understood of the situation. As usual, Naruto wouldn't quite be satisfied with the morsels of data fed them, but Sakura reminded him of the lead Sasuke had on them.

They travelled in silence until Pakkun caught a whiff of nine people trailing them, including one who lagged behind the larger group of eight. After they noticed their pursuers gaining on them, all of their initial plans were mercilessly repudiated by Shikamaru -it seemed Kakashi did choose the members of the squad carefully, after all. There was only one possible course of action with any chance of success, Shikamaru concluded. He would have to delay their tails as long as possible while the rest of the squad proceeded without him to meet with Sasuke. With a heavy heart, Sakura had to agree with his assessment: a feint of an ambush was the only reasonable tactic.

After a tense moment having their pursuers gain on them, Pakkun announced that they had veered off, shortly before he reported that Asuma had intercepted both Shikamaru and their pursuers. Sakura allowed herself to sigh in relief: surely Asuma wouldn't allow his own student to fall. Nevertheless, when student and teacher both returned toward Konoha, Sakura started worrying about their own fates. After all, while their mission was to stop Sasuke from pursuing the Suna nins, Sakura certainly wouldn't have minded the presence of a Jonin within their squad should they encounter the murderous Gaara.

Despite her misgivings, Sakura forced herself to focus on the mission. Both she and Naruto dutifully followed Kakashi's pug, bounding through the signature forest surrounding Konoha. All three companions halted when explosions could be heard some distance away. It was Pakkun who shook itself out of the stupor first, and gleefully gnawed both Genins from their fear-induced daze. He could feel Sasuke's scent growing weaker, indicating that the Uchiha was on the move and had therefore evaded the traps left behind.

Shortly thereafter, Sasuke's retrieval squad found a veritable minefield of booby traps. Their own progression was unhindered, however, as Sasuke had already cleared a safe path through the web of ninja wires when he passed through earlier. An entirely different scene greeted them three leaps after clearing the last of the wires. Whereas they had tracked Sasuke's progress through the swath of destruction amid tagged but otherwise intact trees, the current landscape was rather the opposite: a few trees stood tall while the remaining vegetation had been levelled by _Fuuton_ jutsus.

Since Pakkun wouldn't let them stop to gawk at the scene properly, both Genins grudgingly sped once more on Sasuke's trail. Within fifteen minutes, Pakkun announced that they were approaching a ninja battle. Since Sasuke wasn't one of the combatants, however, they elected to avoid the confrontation altogether in order to catch up to Sasuke faster. It took another fifteen minutes before they started gaining on their teammate's lead. This time, it was the Uchiha who was involved in a fight, though Pakkun could only confirm that a male was opposing Sasuke while a female stood on the sidelines.

Sakura had to forcibly restrain Naruto from doubling his pace via a well-placed fist to his cranium. While time was indeed precious, expending too much chakra right away would simply deplete their stores, thereby negating any help they could provide once arrived. Naruto thenceforth adopted a more sedate pace, though dark mutterings still escaped from his lips much too often for Sakura's liking. She kept silent however; there were too many concerns weighing on her, the main one being their approach once they were within reach of their target. It was clear that they must be careful in masking their presence, as Sasuke would most probably resent any interference.

All these considerations fled from her mind once she saw the vestiges from the battle. Sasuke was grievously injured, and Orochimaru's black markings had crawled their way across his smooth, white skin. Unlike the earlier occurrence, the stench of tainted chakra merely irritated and chafed at Sakura, rather than fouling air with promises of pain and death -the wafting from Sasuke was much too sparse to cause such a reaction. Instead of methodically cataloguing the situation while preventing interference with her presence, she thrust herself to his side _à la_ Naruto. Sakura cradled his head while moaning his name, nearly catatonic from her worry. This deflated, porous chakra store couldn't possibly belong to Sasuke, could it?

Her thoughts resumed synchronicity with her surroundings when she heard cackling, high-pitched and without a shred of sanity left. It took a moment to register that the voice originated from Gaara -stoic, silent, deadly Gaara, who was now neither stoic or silent. Nor was he very much like Gaara, for that matter. Whereas he had morphed his hands into a monstrous clawed appendage with his sand back in the stadium, at least his facial features were still clearly his own, even if the facial expressions weren't quite. Currently, though, he'd sprouted two ears and a muzzle of canine proportions, and drool dribbled down from teeth gleaming white. Indeed, Sakura had only identified him by the remnants of his trademark gourd on his back and the blue-veined limbs replacing Gaara's sickly-thin arms, the very limbs that initially made her question Sasuke's opponent in the finals.

It was entirely due to Naruto's timely jump-kick that Gaara hadn't reached either of the prone Team 7 members. Sakura immediately stood guard in front of Sasuke as well, now reminded of her duties as a Konoha shinobi. Whereas Sasuke was disabled, she most certainly wasn't. Since Naruto seemed eager to stand in the frontlines, she would simply prevent anyone getting past the perimeter from reaching Sasuke, such as that Suna kunoichi, Temari. Sakura resolved to keep an eye on both her and Naruto, such that the pink-haired Genin would be able to intercept incoming attacks. After all, when facing _Fuuton_ users, one's best indication of an attack would be the preparatory movement, rather than the jutsu itself.

Her plan held an unfortunate flaw. She assumed that Naruto would be able to give her forewarning should Gaara penetrate his defense. To her credit, the assumption would seem a reasonable on surface: Naruto had been able to shut down Gaara's attacks with a purely defensive strategy back in the Forest, whereas he would currently also attack. Gaara wasn't one for such distinctions, however, and he glared at Sakura directly for protecting his prey, the robber of his eyes. When she didn't return his gaze, his anger simply boiled until the Suna _jinchuuriki_ took action by sending a mass of sand -his entire _arm_- rushing forth to collide with Sakura.

By the time Naruto registered the action, it was already too late to prevent the sand projectile from passing through his guard, or even to warn Sakura. She was blindsided as badly as Naruto, only noticing the danger when trapped between the unusual weapon in front and rough tree bark behind. She heard some vague noises, muffled as though through cotton, and then the sand squeezed, and squeezed again. She lost consciousness.

* * *

The Hokage frowned, the expression foreign on his face after playing the kindly grandfather to the village for so many years. The Kazekage certainly had cause to hold enmity towards Konoha, as it could not have escaped his attention that many foreign mission requests have been relayed to Konoha over the past few years. However, he had always been scrupulous when accepting such documents, ensuring that the payment wouldn't be so high as to warrant an international incident. Indeed, Konoha had turned down a few of these "gifts" for this very reason. Overall, the money lost by Suna could justify such a course of action as undertaken by his colleague, yet the Sandaime had difficulty believing such... rashness from the staid Kazekage. The Suna leader was ruthless and void of all emotions, the very epitome of ninja behaviour as advocated by Danzo; he may have sealed the _Ichibi no Shukaku_ into his youngest, but he most assuredly would not embark on this harebrained scheme, one where too many variables conflicted with mission success.

Unless... the one standing behind him wasn't the Kazekage. The idea bloomed in Sarutobi Hiruzen's mind, ludicrous beyond belief yet elegant enough to address so many inconsistencies. The skewed speech patterns, the nomination of Suna's _jinchuuriki_, the mysterious Oto participants, Sasuke's curse mark; everything assembled together into a macabre engine of war, one poised on destructing Konoha and make good on his wayward student's promise from so many years ago. Given the steadfast nature of his fellow Kage, this meant that Orochimaru would have had to dispose of the Yondaime Kazekage in order to pose as the village leader.

Never had the Sandaime been more glad for his decision to appoint the younger Minato Namikaze as the Yondaime, yet never had he grieved as fiercely for his favorite student. While Sarutobi Hiruzen had never shown the blatant favoritism so pervasive in the ninja world, everyone had noticed the soft spot he held for the genius of his team, even back when they were still guileless Genins. When he saw his worst fears confirmed as he trooped into Orochimaru's secret lair, he was dismayed by his student's lackadaisacal handling of human subjects, by his blatant disregard for any moral code.

Currently, though, Sarutobi opted to play for time by feigning ignorance. "Kazekage-dono? What is the meaning of this?"

"Kukuku! My dear Hokage-san, surely you are not senile enough to fail to grasp the machinations of the Sand when the detailed design is presented to you?"

"Kazekage-dono!" The Sandaime managed a look of utter horror. Even Jiraiya the perennial actor _par excellence_ would have commended his performance. "Surely you don't mean...?"

"Yes, my fellow Kage. You may stand on the brink of death in your old age, but it seems you are not completely incompetent, not just yet." After a manic laughter, Orochimaru added, "Your village is under attack by my excellent soldiers, and you are hostage to the invasion!"

"Oh my! What am I to do?"

Orochimaru frowned. It was but a twitch of an eyebrow, barely detectable below the face mask underneath the veil from the sedge hat. Yet Sarutobi Hiruzen knew his student and noticed the detail even with his back turned and a kunai at his throat. It seemed he'd overplayed his hand and Orochimaru now suspected some acting on his part. As such, the situation dynamics had changed and pursuing the current line of action was no longer a viable option. The Sandaime took his captor's distraction to escape from the hold and face him.

'Time to end this charade,' thought the Hokage. "Orochimaru, you didn't really think I wouldn't know my own students, did you?"

If Orochimaru was concerned, his body language certainly didn't betray him as he casually ripped off hat, mask and face in one movement. "Kukuku! What gave me away?"

"Oh, little things like infiltrating Konoha before your own invasion, or kidnapping me in front of a stadium filled with my ANBU." The Hokage fluttered his hands dismissively, his expression tightly relaxed while he pondered all possible recourses for one in a position as precarious as his.

He had personally overseen the ANBU training program, and thus the surprisingly slow response from most of the cells indicated to him that some had probably been neutralized and replaced before the invasion. The current captain had a unique chakra, one that couldn't be faked, and the captain was astute enough to leak just enough to reassure the Hokage. Should he free his personal guards such that they would assist in defending Konoha, or should he keep them nearby to prevent the Oto ninjas from dogpiling him? Should he ask them to pretend to leave while hiding nearby to set an ambush on possible Oto ninjas?

After some deliberation, the Hokage settled on the latter choice. His body wasn't as spry and responsive as it used to be, and his chakra reserves had dropped dramatically over the last few years, burdened as he was by the demands of leadership. If Orochimaru's personal guards lowered their barrier, the ANBU would jump in and Sarutobi would be free to concentrate on his erstwhile student. If not, and no one else appeared within five minutes, the ANBU would leave clones behind to monitor the duel while the ANBU themselves would assist in minimizing damages while evacuating Konoha civilians.

Thus, as the Sandaime finished speaking, he made a few hand signals. He'd had the foresight to change sign language when Orochimaru became Nukenin, though he still couldn't afford to assume that Orochimaru was ignorant of the new system. The instructions he'd given were therefore deliberately obstuse even for ANBU. Hopefully Tenzou would know enough to be able to deduce the underlying command.

Whether or not this was the case, the Sandaime had already done his best for his ANBU. Now came the true challenge: facing his genius ex-student.

* * *

ANBU Tiger was highly disturbed: what in Kami's name was the Hokage order? The initial signs were clear enough, if a bit unconventional, and those he obeyed immediately. The assembled ANBU vanished as one into the air before reappearing in a concealed location some distance away. ANBU Tiger had then crouched and observed his Commander discreetly through the dense foliage, yet no further instructions came. The message was clearly encoded for him -the "Hokage's Desk" handsign was most probably an impromptu replacement for "wood". What, then could "cloud sleep" mean? Or "rookie test plus three"?

The latter could potentially stand for the number fifteen, yet that only yielded more questions. Just as he was about to turn to his subordinates, Tenzou remembered a certain Chunin-hopeful who had spent most of his match sky-gazing. The meaning then became clear, and Tenzou chuckled internally at the Hokage's cleverness. "Monkey see, monkey do" indeed!

* * *

A/N: In case there was still some confusion, this story no longer follows canon as of chapter 499. Please note that I will be reviewing everything published up 'till now, and so I won't write anything for a while. I'm clearing out some seeds for plot devices I decided not to use -I'm struggling enough to keep the word count reasonable as it is. I'm only up to chapter 5 now. The next few chapters are already written, though, so there's no need to worry on that front. I'll still be publishing the next chapter on September 10th at the latest.


	17. Ch16 Oto Invasion Pt II

Sasuke had been pampered by his entire clan before the massacre; the entire clan, but for one Uchiha Itachi. After the massacre, he had been afforded special privileges, and pampered by the entire village; the entire village, but for one Uzumaki Naruto. Before the massacre, he'd been a happy, well-adjusted boy who smiled often. After the massacre, he was lonely. Lonely and brooding, angst-ridden even before his teenage years, never breaking a true smile once. And the only one in the village who could possibly understand him, who could relate to his loneliness, was an idiot who didn't know how to stop smiling.

Thus instead of seeking acceptance and companionship, instead of healing his wounds, Sasuke immersed himself in his studies, in his training, in hoarding every edge he could grab. To defeat Uchiha Itachi, he could see no other alternative than to become freakishly strong, more so than even his brother. To that end, he had trained longer and more efficiently in the Academy than all others, always pushing himself to try to reach the next plateau, to burst past his limits.

Naruto, on the other hand, adopted the same lackadaisical attitude toward training as he did for life in general. It was thus no wonder that Sasuke outstripped him in every respect: _ninjutsu_, _genjutsu_, _taijutsu _and even in academics. No, the surprise was not in Naruto's low standings, or even in Sasuke's top-rookie status. Instead, it was that Naruto somehow blamed the Uchiha for his lack of popularity. For that reason, Sasuke should have smirked and ridiculed Naruto's attempts at challenging him, at making Sasuke recognize him as a rival. Sasuke would have done so, too, were he not too busy training. After all, it was far more important that he focus on his own progress than on some dobe who would likely become the first to fail the Academy graduation test thrice in a row, and thereby get banned from the ninja ranks without ever taking that first step.

Or so it had seemed, until after the Academy graduation. Naruto had somehow managed a last-minute pass and forced himself into the Uchiha's team. From what Sasuke had learned, it made sense to place the dobe with the most promising graduates: it would even out the groups and create more balanced teams across the board. One glaring flaw with this reasoning was revealed when the dobe proved himself better suited at the ninja arts than the second-place Academy graduate even during Kakashi's Genin test, back before Naruto could have had much time to sharpen his skills. Sasuke did not mind this development, as he'd always considered Sakura worthless as a ninja despite her official standing. All she could offer the team was her stellar academic performance, and that was an area the team did not need furthering.

Sasuke therefore did not mind when Naruto proved himself superior to Sakura as a ninja even straight out from the Academy. Nor did he begrudge Naruto his sudden interest in the ninja arts, or his tremendous growth. After all, it would potentially mean one less dead-weight on his team. To his credit, Naruto did progress along quite nicely, complementing whatever the "remedial lessons" entailed with near-constant reading until he clearly couldn't be considered a dobe anymore, not by any objective measure. However, even this increased work still fell woefully short of the standard Uchiha program, which itself was dwarfed by the gruelling hours Sasuke kept. No, improved Naruto or not, Sasuke never felt any challenge to his position as Top Rookie despite having underestimated Naruto.

Except now the blond had blindsided him once again. In Wave, Naruto had managed to undertake a training regimen that put his own to shame, all the while maintaining the infuriatingly upbeat attitude that he brought to every aspect of his life - the very optimism bordering on naivete that had made Sasuke ignore Naruto in the first place. Indeed, it seemed that the dobe could casually out-train even the manic tendencies of the Uchiha clan during their glory days. That should have been the first wake-up call. Sasuke, however, had been too busy trying to keep pace with Naruto's insane progress, especially after he had witnessed Naruto's original contribution to the _Repputoppa_. But Sasuke hadn't heeded the warning signs, hadn't followed Naruto's evolution as a ninja. Thus, he had been surprised when Naruto didn't perform quite as expected during their forced sojourn under Haku's dome and defeated a ninja who had proved himself superior to Sasuke.

He'd been conflicted afterwards between elation of activating his Sharingan and disgruntlement over Naruto's own trump card -one that trounced his measly two-tomoe Sharingan by a wide margin. So much so that, to be honest, he'd slacked off on his training until Kakashi gave them their Chunin Examination Entry forms. Of course, even in his respite he'd still logged more hours practicing than the blond dobe, who'd returned to his happy-go-lucky persona as soon as Team Seven crossed the Konoha Gates. Receiving the surprise nomination had been the wake-up call that brought the Uchiha back to business as usual: punishing drills grinding him to the ground from dawn to dusk, never sparing a moment outside the ninja facilities of the Uchiha Compound when he could be improving his skills.

In the Forest of Death, Sasuke had been soundly trounced by Orochimaru despite his renewed self-discipline with regards to training. By itself, the loss would be insignificant, as Orochimaru as the genius of Konoha's Legendary Sannin far outstripped mere Chunin hopefuls, Uchiha or not. But Sasuke then lost convincingly against Gaara as well, lost to a Genin -a Genin!- despite both his brutal practice sessions and the chakra boost Orochimaru had conveniently placed on him. To add insult to injury, Kakashi had forbidden him from using that potent chakra Orochimaru had gifted him. Instead, he'd learned the Chidori. It might have been a fair trade in Kakashi's mind, yet Sasuke couldn't help wonder how much power the cursed seal would have added to the lightning jutsu. However, Sasuke acknowledged that he couldn't defeat Itachi even with the extra power it provided, not in his current state. Thus Sasuke resigned himself to follow Kakashi's instructions, docile as an Academy student.

But then, during the finals, it had seemed for a while as if the Chidori was indeed all he needed. He'd been unable to use the first one, true, but his second had critically injured Gaara in the shoulder. Sasuke thought the match over and his honor restored once he'd scored the first significant blow against the very one who'd shamed him. Yet things were not quite that simple. Gaara's teammates and squad leader had jumped down, the squad leader detaining the proctor and the teammates retrieving Gaara. He'd followed the proctor's orders and raced across the forest surrounding Konoha, eager to finish what he'd started. Gaara, on the other hand, would have none of it. The glint of madness in Gaara's eyes had reappeared as soon as he saw the Sharingan reflecting light in the midst of the forest canopy, and the Suna _jinchuuriki _had shrugged Temari off.

By the time the kunoichi whisked herself from Gaara's side into the dense foliage surrounding them, Sasuke was speeding through the required seals and soon enough a _Chidori _screeched from his right hand. Sasuke bounded off to meet his opponent in mid-air even as Gaara redirected his own flight via extended limbs grappling whichever support was most convenient, and was able to force a favorable collision against the airborne Uchiha. Thus, while Sasuke still managed to escape relatively unscathed, he was unable to inflict any damage more substantial than a severed limb -one that Gaara recalled to the main body of sand without a second thought. From there on, things spiralled out of control.

Sasuke attempted another _Chidori_, but as happened during practice, the intensity could not reach a self-sustaining level a third time in such a short period and the Uchiha was forced to let it dissipate, lest he leave himself open to counter-attack while pressing forward with his unstable jutsu. Sasuke kept his cool and instead switched to using more familiar -and less demanding- fire jutsu.

He couldn't quite provide the white-hot rage to drive the fires, though, and the _Housenka _he fired in mid-leap away from the Sharingan-traced trajectory of one sand projectile glowed orange rather than the exotic purple or even the smoldering charcoal they exhibited during the Forest fight. The multiple sparks of color flickered out of existence against Gaara's sand, mere fireflies squashed out of existence by a tidal wave, yet Sasuke still signed through the same sequence of handseals, readying a second round of flaming projectiles. All the jutsu would constitute at best but an inconvenience for Gaara, at worst a complete waste of chakra for Sasuke, much as the Uchiha had expected. There was no choice, however: Sasuke did not have any other option with which to strike Gaara, and he would not let himself die without at least attempting a defense, not after his pitiful performance against Orochimaru in the Forest of Death.

The fight and the memories combined to catch Sasuke in a swell of adrenaline, and for the duration of one eyeblink Sasuke lost his will to suppress Orochimaru's _Ten no Juuin_, his drive to stay loyal to Konoha and to steer clear of shady morals. Immediately, the Uchiha felt the release of power, blessed power, creeping through his flesh, answering his craving for strength, for chakra, for the power to pummel his opponents and utterly dominate the fight through sheer brutality.

The innocuous _Katon _jutsu were suddenly not so harmless anymore, and the dynamics of the confrontation changed drastically. Whereas Sasuke's previous Katon jutsu burned yellow-orange, a subtle twist in the chakra fuelling the fires shifted the emission spectrum up until dark purple rippled through countless _Housenka_ streaking across the meters separating Sasuke from the psychotic mass of whirling sands that Gaara had become. Sasuke smirked when Gaara paused momentarily as his sand wall blocked the first of the projectiles -though the fireball fizzled away soon after collision, it still smashed through the thin layer in a shower of broken glass and sandy dust. Sasuke took the opportunity to circle out of Gaara's immediate viewfield before launching more of his fire jutsu, and left for a new vantage point even before combustion had fully consumed the _Goukakyu_ he had just released.

After a moment of respite spent sniggering at Gaara's bewildered expression when flames sprung into existence seemingly from thin air, Sasuke once more rushed through the handseals for the _Housenka_ and exhaled countless bursts of chakra-driven plasma. Gaara's face now had to be actively shielded from the purple flames peppering the air, as the reflexive protection offered by the sand no longer sufficed against this new onslaught of fire. Gaara was thereby forced to divert his attention away from pestering Sasuke with sand projectiles, which in turn helped Sasuke target Gaara more judiciously. As the multiple explosions from a judiciously aimed _Housenka_ erupted ever nearer Gaara, the purple flames decimating the perimeter of Gaara's defense to lick against a wall of sand hastily erected one meter from Gaara's face, Sasuke smirked -it seemed to the Uchiha that the fight was already won, the remainder a mere footnote barely worth mentioning. After all, if a similar tactic had nearly succeeded during the Chunin Finals without the power boost granted by Orochimaru's seal, what hope had Gaara of surviving a combination of _Ryuuka_ to hold him immobile and a _Chidori_ to finish?

Yet Sasuke was soon forced to revise his reasoning. Sand now spilled forth from Gaara's gourd where it lain dormant at the stadium, and the increased volume of sand spilling from Gaara's gourd could hold Sasuke's fireballs at bay further than expected -much too far for the intended purpose within Sasuke's strategy. The explosions from countless _Katon_ jutsu thrown left and right with nary a thought of restraint advanced less and less, until the sand held firm against Sasuke's best efforts, barely wavering even in the face of simultaneous _Goukakyu_ or wide-area showers of _Housenka_. Worse yet, Sasuke was force to scamper away from a _Suna Shuriken_ mid-way through the handseals of the _Goukakyu_ with a chanhanced leap to a branch five meters above. It was apparent to Sasuke that Gaara had also noticed the difference in dynamics, and the contest had shifted from one of power to one of attrition. Sasuke was doomed to lose such a fight, however, for few could ever hope to match the sheer chakra capacity of _jinchuuriki_, even _jinchuuriki _for the weakest of the _Bijuu_.

It was much too late to attempt a more favorable approach when Sasuke was forced to realize this principle. He had already expended too much chakra in pushing his offensive this far, and not even the cursed seal on his neck could replenish his stores now. Each dodge ate an ever greater portion of Sasuke's dwindling reserves, and the very air seemed heavy and sluggish as Sasuke's breath drew shorter, with each jump coming precariously closer to the strands of sand lashing about. Gaara seized the opportunity of a mistimed leap to shower the area with Suna Shurikens, countless impacts holding Sasuke aloft and jerking as a marionette. By the time Sasuke flopped back onto a random branch in an ungainly heap, he had lost all will to fight. Even if he hadn't, his body was in no condition to prolong the duel, riddled as it was by injuries. Sasuke dimly heard Gaara cackle, no doubt sensing his impending victory draw nearer with each heartbeat, with each gigantic leap. It was at that moment that Sakura and Naruto dropped between the rampaging jinchuuriki and the prone Uchiha. (break)

Tenzou, codename ANBU Tiger, couldn't quite trust the sight relayed through his eyes. The Sandaime, aged and well past his heydays, had been forced to keep the frantic pace set by his ex-student Orochimaru, arguably the most dangerous of the Sannin. For minute after excruciating minute, the Sannin's jutsu were countered by the Professor, and it seemed as though experience could indeed offset the disadvantage of creaking limbs and dwindling chakra reserves. Yet Orochimaru had chosen that moment to unearth his latest jutsu -quite literally. Pale fingers locked together in four seals before slapping against each other with a clap.

The Sannin's body trembled in his concentration over his chakra, forcing it to flow through his hands into the prepared material Orochimaru left in his safehouse, and the earth sprouted wooden coffins at his command. The Sandaime seemed utterly gobsmacked when he saw the first one breach the surface, yet reacted fast enough to prevent all three from entirely clearing out of their confines by flying through the seals of some counter-jutsu, timing the final Serpent seal to complete just as Orochimaru released control.

It was only through hints dropped in the subsequent conversation that Tenzou was able to piece together the jutsu -the infamous Edo Tensei developed by the Nidaime Hokage. It was fortunate that the Sandaime stopped the jutsu before it could be completed, judging by the covers of the coffins. Otherwise, the Sandaime may have had to face off against every other Hokage on top of Orochimaru himself.

Why, then, would the Sannin still be smiling?

* * *

Sasuke still couldn't move, exhausted as he was by the duel against Gaara. Sakura, on the other hand, did not have such an excuse when she took a seat by his side, useless as ever. She seemed catatonic, not even twitching when Naruto failed to block a swat to his right side, rocketing to the tree trunk mere meters away from the impact while Sasuke winced in sympathy. She still did not respond when Naruto picked himself off the body-shaped imprint on the tree to engage Gaara once more, nor did she react when the Suna nin forced Naruto to flubber around countless jabs and projectiles of sand, skirting ever closer to the pair of stationary ninja until they fought mere centimeters from Sakura. It took Naruto kicking Gaara in his face -or was it his snout?- to wake her from her stupor, the bulk of flesh and sand tumbling scant millimeters from her face.

Even then, after Naruto had saved Sakura from certain death by sand-clubbing, Sasuke could only scowl when she simply assumed a defensive posture before him, and bristled from his prickled Uchiha pride as she once again treated him as an invalid, as the team's dead weight. Her attention was spent mostly on the Suna kunoichi, Sasuke noted. While that may have been a valid concern in other situations, Temari was currently scared out of her wits by her own teammate, and was trying her best to appear as insignificant and non-threatening as possible, lest she attract the Suna jinchuuriki's attention. Indeed, if Gaara was as psychotic within Suna as when facing Sasuke, the Uchiha concluded perhaps she may be well justified in her skittishness, in her unwillingness to participate in the conflict. No, concluded Sasuke, Temari did not present any significant threat, not while Gaara still stampeded through the forest.

Such was the lesson Sakura learned the hard way when her lack of awareness allowed a sand shuriken that slipped through Naruto's guard to carry her off her feet straight into a tree trunk, knocking out her breath in the process. Sasuke's eyes widened when the _Suna Shuriken_ then morphed, wrapping around her body to trap her between rough tree bark and even rougher sand. Gaara wasn't quite done just yet, however, and the sand squeezed until Sakura could no longer repress the piteous moan that slipped through her lips, a sound that drew Naruto's attention to the situation behind him.

Naruto quickly attempted to rectify Sakura's hostage situation by conjuring a meager _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_, ostensibly in the hopes of forcing Gaara to release his control over the sand by overwhelming the Suna _jinchuuriki_ with sheer numbers to compensate for the gap in skill between the two ninja. Against most Genin or even Chunin, this tactic might have worked, might have created such a large difference in numbers that Naruto's Genin-level _taijutsu_ would still be sufficient to overcome superior skills. Yet in this instance, Sasuke scoffed at the tactic instead -Naruto's focus was lost in the fog of panic, and the clones he generated simply couldn't prove equal to Gaara's sand, not with their current population. Instead of being threatened by the very Genin who had effectively shut down the sand attack in the Forest of Death, Gaara allowed himself to be amused.

Sasuke could see the _Ichibi jinchuuriki _merely toying with this blond shrimp who dared stand in his way, waiting for Naruto to scramble away from one sand shuriken rather than target the logical hiding place Naruto would next choose, letting Naruto catch his breath instead of streaming attacks one after another as Gaara had with Sasuke. Sasuke scowled when Naruto survived longer than Sasuke had by providing entertainment that Gaara wasn't keen on ending too quickly, by sheer ineptitude.

But inept or not, Naruto was Sasuke's teammate, someone who cared about him and acknowledged his loneliness. Well... after a fashion, Sasuke amended. Naruto was just as lonely, just as neglected underneath all that bluster and loud exterior, and craved for human contact in the same manner as Sasuke. The blond idiot even showed it in small gestures that precious few would notice. A slight hesitation now and then, an extra oomph in his greetings, even a louder voice; all these were typically relegated to Naruto's one-sided rivalry with Sasuke whenever anyone observant enough did note this behavior. Sasuke knew better. That was the mark of recognition between comrades in suffering. Indeed, as he became aware of his teammate's plight, Sasuke himself responded in his own manner: with derision and over-the-top sarcasm.

However, whereas Sasuke soothed the gaping hole in himself with harsh training, fueled himself with cold rage and revenge, Naruto turned first to pranking and then to his life-long goal of becoming Hokage to receive recognition, to demand his share of human contact. Whereas Sasuke proceeded with finesse and style, Naruto blundered head-first without any regard to anything but his goal. And Sasuke saw this trait even in the current fight: Naruto would simply attempt to brute-force his way to Gaara with masses upon masses of clones streaming towards Gaara with kunai in hand as ants defending their hive, carelessly flinging chakra about without respect to his opponent's methods, only to fly back after a flick of Gaara's wrist, disdain clearly etched in his sand-coated sneer.

Sasuke and Naruto may not have been the best of friends or even share a bond of any significance, but Sasuke would not let his comrade be massacred. Not after seeing his family slaughtered, and certainly not when he could prove himself superior once and for all. This resolve was sufficient for Sasuke to note the scraps of chakra his body had amassed since his earlier confrontation, and the stamina he had recovered. It was not nearly what Sasuke would have envisioned before squaring off before one of Gaara's level, yet it would be enough -had to be enough.

However, when he intended to rejoin the fray, signaling as much to Naruto by way of a tilt of the head perfected under Kakashi's guidance, something seemed to shift in the blond, some steely resolve that bubbled to the surface and glinted hard as steel in those blue irises that angled towards Sasuke to acknowledge the communication. However, before the Uchiha could take a single step forward, injuries be damned, Sasuke stilled his motion when Naruto shifted weight forward rather than backward, as Sasuke would have expected. Sasuke could only sit back as his teammate formed a single cross-shaped seal and gathered chakra. And then concentrated some more, rattling branches thick as most trunks and painting the landscape blue with his chakra. Naruto poured out even more chakra before he focused the entire mass into his seal, concentrated more chakra than Sasuke's entire capacity could hold into four fingers, and Sasuke was forced to shield his Sharingan when Naruto released it all in a single burst.

* * *

"ROOT survey cell #4, report." The speaker had most of his face wrapped under bandages, one would have detected no extraneous movement were the bandages removed. Danzou was an expert ninja, and he controlled his body entirely, even when his hometown was under attack.

"Danzou-sama. Orochimaru himself is fighting the Sandaime Hokage on the roof of the stadium's Kage Box." The ROOT operative who spoke was drenched in sweat, yet one would be hard pressed to detect any sign of fatigue in the perfectly-monotonous answer.

Danzou had expected as much, however, and was able to reach a decision immediately. "If at all possible, do not let Orochimaru leave alive. What else is there to report?"

"A tri-headed snake has breached the walls around Sector 2. One platoon of the regular forces is confronting the Summons, but has yet to deliver significant damage. Two Oto platoons of first-level cursed-seal ninja have entered the village through the breach and have dispersed to cause indiscriminate destruction in both civilian and military sectors. There are currently two Chunin platoons and an ANBU team holding off the remaining cursed seal ninja outside. The cursed seal ninja were slowly decreasing the number of opponents upon last contact."

The news was dire indeed, yet neither ROOT operatives nor Danzou himself showed the slightest emotion. "Send strike cell #8 to monitor the Summoned snake. If it the situation/battle doesn't resolve before the snake reaches the ninja's domestic section, they are to dispel the snake at all costs. Dispatch strike cells #2 and #3 to remove lone Oto operatives. They are not to engage the Oto ninjas if the enemy is in a group. Dispatch strike cells #1 and #4 to remove groups of at most three Oto ninjas. None of the teams are to reveal themselves. What else is there to report?"

"The Suna jinchuuriki has fled from the stadium and destroyed the wall around Sector 14. Three platoons of Suna ninjas have defeated a platoon guarding the breach and are currently heading into the village."

"Hm." Whereas each response had been immediate up to now, the last bit of information greatly disturbed Danzou. He had been expecting the Suna forces to join the Oto invaders, though he hadn't predicted the sheer numbers Suna had been willing to send. Coupled with the number of cursed-seal operatives, Danzou was having trouble organizing his forces effectively on the fly. Further compounding the murky waters was Orochimaru's knowledge of ROOT. Indeed, that the organization had survived its official dismantling was common knowledge in the upper ranks, as was its strength prior to the Sandaime's misguided orders. Danzou could only hope that both its true strength prior to the edict and its growth since then would give him an edge over the traitor.

After pondering the issue at length, Danzou finally gave his orders. "This is quite worrisome indeed. Have all five containment cells surround the Suna forces and attack with sniper patterns. They are not to reveal themselves unless the Suna forces reach the Hokage tower. Have offensive cell #3 stay nearby the Hokage and eliminate any enemy ninja with extreme prejudice. All other offensive cells are to spread out and pick apart groups of at most three enemy ninja until Konoha launches its counter-attack. All ANBU operatives are to eliminate their opponents with extreme prejudice, and a slight slip of their true strength for this purpose is acceptable. All other teams must keep all connections to ROOT secret."

* * *

Much as Naruto had managed during his fight to save Iruka from Mizuki, and much as Naruto had managed when shielding Sasuke from Haku with a buffer of clones, Naruto instinctively focused his chakra and pumped it all through the handseal for the _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_. The results were spectacular: the entire clearing immediately poofed out of view, smoke wafting from the inefficiency of chakra conversion. Despite the sheer amount of chakra Naruto poured into the jutsu, however, the light breeze that followed Naruto's jutsu was sufficient to clear the field, revealing mops of blond atop a veritable sea of orange filling every visible space to the brim.

Whereas panic had previously clouded his judgment and impaired his skills, whereas Gaara had seemed a juggernaught nigh invincible mere moments ago, Naruto now recognized the need to defeat his opponent regardless of the latter's skills, or at least to stop him in his tracks. Any other outcome was simply unacceptable: the fate of both his teammates rested upon his performance. Sheer numbers, impressive though they were, would simply be insufficient to win this fight, and with Naruto's tightened control over his chakra came a level-headed analysis of the situation that revealed as much. Naruto's infamous abilities as the prankster _par excellence_ in all of Konoha reared up in the midst of forming a viable plan for subduing the Suna nin, a plan incorporating the numerical advantage Naruto currently held over Gaara. Naruto distilled the tactics developed during the earlier stand-off against Gaara into a cohesive plan and sent his clones charging in head-first to initiate his strategy.

Dazzling acrobatics befuddled and disorientated Gaara, whose eyes couldn't decide whether to track a clone fifty meters away somersaulting his way at top speed, or whether another Naruto doppelganger fifteen meters to his right would throw one of the kunai juggled in mid-air amid cartwheels. One clone created specifically for this purpose now charged in headfirst, ploughing through countless clones to suddenly spring forth from within the smoke of dispelled clones to connect with a roundkick. The Suna-nin was barely fazed. Yet the clone had accomplished his purpose: hiding a punch from second clone -one who had been thrown by three others for increased momentum. Gaara staggered back half a step, imbalanced more than injured. Four clones took the opportunity to sling between legs of yet more clones to hurl themselves at sand-encased feet in an attempt to topple the opponent by removing his base. The impact was sufficient to dispel the clones, though Gaara himself did not seem affected in the least.

All these maneuvers were mere distractions, however, mere smokescreens to hide one clone sneaking around to the back with a kunai tagged with an explosive seal readied in his right hand. Though the clone was mere chakra construct, the kunai -and the paper tag- were entirely real, retrieved from the original Naruto's own weapon pouch. Under normal circumstances, Naruto would have preferred directly slinking through the shadows in the manner of a true prankster. The current situation was anything but normal, however, and a slip of Naruto's true purpose could entail potentially far worse consequences than a mere scolding by the Hokage or Iruka. And thus, Naruto now found himself silently egging on his clone from his perch safely hidden behind leaves, high above the ground, while the remainder of his population busied themselves sacrificing their existence for the sake of distracting Gaara.

Naruto received the memories of two particularly enterprising clones who had thrown themselves against Gaara to thrust kunai against his seemingly unprotected chest. For all the viciousness of the attempts, however, the steel blades barely scraped any sand from the ceramic-like armor before Gaara knocked both into oblivion with a contemptuous swat, only for Naruto to see five more clones dogpiling on Gaara without even a pretense of a strategy. Gaara easily shook them off by sprouting spikes from his sand, yet the now-defunct chakra constructs had already succeeded in their goal. The single clone of any significance had already positioned himself behind Gaara and now shoved the loaded kunai in the base of Gaara's tail while Naruto himself activated the seal.

The blow had apparently targeted a weak spot in Gaara's armor, for Naruto's hands flew of their own accord to cup protectively around his ears while the Suna-nin shrieked even as he flew skyward from the explosion, favoring the base of his tail with both hands. Naruto thanked Kakashi for "teaching" the blond the _Konohagakure Hiden Taijutsu Ougi: Sennen Goroshi,_ no matter the pain -and humiliation!- Kakashi may have wrought to impart this technique. Though Naruto had felt first-hand the effects of the jutsu, he certainly hadn't expected such a resounding success.

Naruto wasn't one to squander any advantage gained, however improbable the source. Thus, his clones immediately compounded one blow with another into the one injured area while Naruto himself joined the fray. There was no finesse in Naruto's hand-to-hand combat, no elegance in his movements or efficiency of impact, yet the sound of flesh slapping against sand amplified and reverberated from countless repetitions as kicks after blows after kunai strikes pushed Gaara higher and higher, the massive sand colossus reaching an improbable height with naught but Naruto's _taijutsu_ strikes to propel him ever upward. While Gaara was distracted by these antics, thrashing in an attempt to control his flight, Naruto discreetly conjured a massive wave of clones that he immediately led upwards from within the secrecy of the forest canopy, ready to descend in the hundreds upon the helpless Gaara thrashing about from the attack.

Just as it seemed that the match was headed in Naruto's direction, however, Gaara threw a monkey wrench in the spanner before Naruto could complete his strategy: Gaara released his tainted chakra all at once. While the change in chakra nature was subtle, the physical consequences were not. Sand rose up from the soil and flew through the air to pool around the _jinchuuriki_, adding to the already hulking mass. Less than a second later, Gaara's form exploded in size to shoot clear above the tallest trees, sending Naruto hurtling away and popping countless clones out of existence in the process until the sand stabilized into the shape of a monstrous biped. The few clones who still managed to stomp on Gaara despite the metamorphosis had suddenly shrunk into insignificant gnats, the minor disturbance no longer within the threshold of detection for one towering above the forest_._ Gaara -could this monstrosity of sand and endless walls upon walls of sand truly be Gaara, tiny Gaara of the diminutive frame?- Gaara roared, sending leaves flying faster than shuriken and trees splintering across their entire lengths from the vibrations tearing cellulose-reinforced cells asunder.

Naruto was forced to revise his strategy: there was no possibility of felling this new monstrosity with mere physical blows, not when Gaara dwarfed him as _Kyuubi jinchuuriki _himself would an ant. The blond would have to trade _taijutsu_ with _ninjutsu_ instead -preferably wide-area jutsu. Yet earlier in the forest, Naruto had already attempted the only powerful offense in his entire arsenal, and even when overcharged and unleashed in ambush, the _Kaze no Teisei_ had failed to faze Gaara. What hope did Naruto have, then, if not even his best jutsu could hope to harm Gaara, if his only way to wreak widespread destruction could not reach his opponent?

And then, Naruto remembered one jutsu he had not attempted since the second stage of the exam, a jutsu he had only ever tried once. It was a resounding failure, which was why he had forgotten its very existence until the need for destruction -massive, indiscriminate destruction- tickled his memory. Naruto still recalled the explosion that had replaced the summon when attempting the _Kuchiyose no Jutsu,_ and though the personal cost of activating such a jutsu would normally preclude its use, the current situation required the sheer mayhem it would unleash_._ Perhaps, just perhaps, there was still hope left, after all.

Sasuke should have been resting. His chakra may have trickled into a pool large enough to attempt a second collision against Gaara, yet even he knew better than to assume full recovery -he couldn't even activate his Sharingan using the meager stores currently available to him! Thus, the logical place for Sasuke would have been far from the fight, possibly chipping away at the sand that trapped Sakura. However, Sasuke was much too curious to accept such a mundane setting, and too prideful to leave combat to dedicate himself to simple support. Curiosity and pride may have killed the cat, Sasuke concluded, but at least the cat's life must have been worth living.

Sasuke glowered at Naruto as the Uchiha witnessed the latter smuggle a clone with a live exploding tag to the back of Gaara, flaunting the trap right underneath Gaara's oblivious nose. Why would Naruto, _dobe_ of the class, be able to fool Gaara when none of Sasuke's own tactics could? Worse yet, Lady Luck had seemingly sided with Naruto yet again: from Gaara's howls upon detonation of the exploding tag, it appeared Naruto had targeted a weakness of the sand armor at the base of the tail. Why couldn't Sasuke reap such fortunes? Why did Fate favor Naruto when a much worthier ninja also stood on standby, one waiting for the occasional lucky break while working hard to capitalize on any such opportunities?

Yet Sasuke's annoyance soon melted into dread as Gaara transformed yet again, shifting the tides once more in the Suna nin's favor just before Naruto could stomp his way to victory. Whereas the first metamorphosis had granted Gaara a clear advantage in both size and mass, this latest turn of events led to Gaara towering well above the forest itself, unshackling Gaara from the assumptions upon which Naruto's strategy hinged: the latter could no longer cause any significant damage even if the clones did land by the hundreds, and instead Gaara pushed Naruto away without actively attempting to do so.

Naruto surprised Sasuke when he hung back in the face of this new challenge. Naruto had plunged in against Zabuza despite knowing of the slaughter during the Bloody Mist's Genin exam, and Naruto certainly hadn't hesitated before jumping inside Haku's dome or even to defend Sakura when even Sasuke failed to defeat Gaara in his earlier form, yet Naruto seemed reluctant to tackle this new monstrosity head-on. Sasuke cocked his head to the side: was Naruto truly running away? Naruto had always shown more courage than common sense. Why, then, would he be turning tail now and moving away from Gaara? Away... Sakura moaned as the sand tightened yet again, and Sasuke understood. Naruto probably wished to use some powerful jutsu -a wide-area one it seemed, but was afraid to injure his teammates. Sasuke hoped Naruto would attempt whatever it was that had destroyed a fair portion of the ground during the Chunin finals, as he couldn't imagine anything else in Naruto's arsenal that would affect Gaara in any significant manner.

Unfortunately, wide-area _ninjutsu _had the tendency of splaying uncontrollably, and thus collateral damages had to be considered before attempting any in the field. Sasuke surmised Naruto had wilfully drawn the lumbering Sand colossus away from his teammates in order to create conditions favorable to himself, himself and his teammates. Despite Gaara's size in this transformed state, Sasuke noticed how Naruto easily stayed ahead of the Suna jinchuuriki, nimbly leaping off the path of a swat and taunting Gaara with a fart before cartwheeling just out of reach. It seemed that sheer mass had finally caught up to speed and dragged it down to a manageable level. Sasuke scowled as he remembered the speed of Gaara in his initial transformation, and the ferocity of the attacks, the unrelenting storm that hounded him at every step during their earlier tussle.

Yet Naruto currently took his time bewildering the sand giant, literally running circles around the larger but slower foe, darting just outside of reach with a generous helping of a taunt or three, and occasionally even manipulating his clones for inordinately poofy clouds by dispelling clones even before the initial smoke had started dispersing. A few heckled Gaara with twigs and pebbles thrown with surprising accuracy to the center of Gaara's cruciform pupils, while some resorted to the rude and lewd to distract Gaara.

Unfortunately, Gaara soon tired of this game. Sasuke watched as Gaara reappeared from the mass of sand, hands already locked in the Ram seal. A brief look of concentration later, Gaara's head nodded forward and down -did he just fall asleep? Sasuke had no time to rejoice, however. The snout atop which rested Gaara drew in a deep breath, and Sasuke barely leapt out of the way of some powerful _Fuuton_ jutsu released by the sand demon immediately after Gaara.

_Fuuton_ jutsu were notorious for their ability to stay hidden, and at first Sasuke regretted not possessing sufficient chakra to activate his Sharingan, regretted not being able to track the chakra powering the jutsu through its path. Yet his eyes still tracked the jutsu even devoid of the fabled _doujutsu,_ and Sasuke stared wide-eyed as the technique targeted Naruto even faster than the sand projectiles Gaara had earlier sent chasing after Sasuke, destroying branches and entire tree trunks in a swath of destruction. Sasuke quickly retreated even further before the detonation from jutsu activation sent him flying head over heels.

The Uchiha eyes were genetically enhanced, and even without the Sharingan to aid in analyzing movements, Sasuke's sight was still acute enough to effortlessly calculate his own trajectory despite a sense of balance gone haywire, and the tree trunk intersecting his current tumbling path was just as handily located. Sasuke gathered the entirety of his pool to the sole of his feet in preparation for the collision, and barely managed to hold onto the tree trunk. One moment later, the world stopped spinning, yet the twigs and chestnuts and leaves and even the occasional squirrel swirling about in their haphazard journey puzzled Sasuke until he deduced these as the left-over shrapnel from the detonated gusts of wind. Sasuke raised his head to look back toward the explosion, and raised an eyebrow.

Where lush forests had populated the area, barely a spot of green could now be seen. Indeed, the epicenter of the jutsu nearly two hundred meters away could now be mistaken for a desert but for the snapped trunks and upturned chunks of green-topped soil lying alongside a fifty-meter radius. Further still were stranded the debris from the explosion, and nearly a hundred meters from the center of isometric destruction was stuck Naruto in-between two entire tree trunks, clothes riddled with sharp twigs and an impressive assortment of tears and gashes. It seemed that though Naruto somehow managed to steer clear of a direct impact, the gusts of air released by the technique was still sufficient to harm Naruto via the collateral havoc wreaked within the event horizon of the _Fuuton_ jutsu.

Sasuke stared bug-eyed as Naruto somehow scurried out of the way despite his condition as another ball of compressed _Fuuton_ chakra coalesced within Gaara's open mouth, and Sasuke lost track of his teammate as the jutsu shook the very earth and threatened to dislodge Sasuke from his perch three hundred meters away. It was after the third such ball of compressed air that Sasuke with his superior Uchiha eyes noted Naruto planning a counter to the powerful _Fuuton _jutsu. The blond suddenly sacrificed some of his speed in favor a thoughtful expression that Sasuke recognized even with Naruto's features blurred by the five hundred meters separating the two teammates -this had preceded Naruto's insane plan that had freed Kakashi from Zabuza's _Suirou_, the Water Prison.

Sasuke winced in empathy as the distraction from the evasion tactics, however slight it may have been, cost Naruto. A fourth ball of _Fuuton_ chakra hit twenty meters to Naruto's right, knocking him airborne once more. Sasuke relaxed the tic in his left eyebrow as Naruto turned his head back towards Gaara, ostensibly focused once more on his surroundings: the blond must have concluded his strategy session by then. Naruto formed several shadow clones in mid-air while twisting to land on a nearby branch. Sasuke saw the telltale smoke and logs of multiple _Kawarimi_ dispersing the clones further into the forest, out of even Sasuke's field of vision, even as Naruto himself zigzagged his way down to the forest bed and darted into the dense underbrush alongside a handful of clones criss-crossing each other's paths until Sasuke lost track of the original ninja.

It seemed Gaara was as befuddled as Sasuke -with good cause, thought Sasuke with a sneer: if Naruto could confound even Uchiha eyes, what hope had Gaara of deciphering Naruto's actions, even with his cruciform pupils? Gaara -or more precisely, the mass of sand upon which Gaara slumped, still seemingly asleep- jerked his head left and right, drool that could most likely fill a pool dripping down his snout while his tail twitched every now and then, and arms as thick as most trees were tall tore through the landscape as the sand colossus lumbered about in his search for Naruto.

Sasuke also sifted through the forest with his eyes, and though Gaara had the advantage of mobility over Sasuke, the latter had familiarity with the blond. Where Gaara counted on pure intuition to differentiate one blond from another, Sasuke was versed enough with Naruto's mannerisms to note the unusual behavior of one particular Naruto huddling inside a bush alongside another, barely three hundred meters away from the Uchiha. And did that one bite his thumb? It seemed he did, as the original Naruto now stained the clone's left hand with the blood on his right one. After a pause, the blond conjured three more clones and repeated the process.

The older clone crept to a branch four meters from the ground. It was an easy task for Sasuke to guess the target: the base of the beast's tail, where the sand armor had been shown to be vulnerable from Naruto's earlier attack. The newer clones snuck around bushes and shrubs -these were to provide support, unless Sasuke's guess was mistaken. Yet soon enough, it was clear that Naruto's plan had unravelled. Gaara was no longer approaching, and the wanton destruction caused by its search for Naruto had ceased shaking the ground. Sasuke's eyes widened as he noted cruciform pupils glaring directly at the Uchiha, eyebrows above scrunched in hatred.

A poof of smoke in Sasuke' peripheral vision distracted him. He jerked his head around to observe two of the blood-marked clones speeding away toward Gaara within a larger cadre of ten clones, all pretenses of stealth discarded. Their goal was clear even to Sasuke: establish all clones as a credible threat. After all, if Gaara deigned turn back to his original target, it meant that Naruto was dismissed as a priority target, that the innumerable clones leaping about no longer attracted Gaara's interest. The latter was now focused once more on fleshier targets, ones heretofore immobile since Naruto had started running interference.

Sasuke could easily infer the blond's reasoning: to reverse Gaara's path, all that should be required would be providing strong attacks with his clones, proving that Naruto could not be so easily dismissed. Sasuke acknowledged the plan as viable, all the while resenting himself for his weakness, and Naruto for presuming his helplessness. He was an Uchiha! Elite even amongst the elite! How could Naruto simply assume he would need protection like some commoner?

* * *

Konohamaru was distraught; quite understandably so, if he were honest with himself. Bad omens had peppered his day even before he set off on his path to the Academy. At first, they were easily dismissed, such as meeting the monk rushing to meet the Hokage as the first person he saw that very day, or seeing a rainbow-colored haze around the sun. This much was still largely coincidental, and he brushed them to the side. And yet the signs kept piling up. During kunai training, his fourth weapon crushed a spider when dislodged by his seventh one, and the geta of his sandal broke soon afterward. Konohamaru was still in denial when Iruka told them to "practice evacuation measures". In the excitement over leaving lecture early, however, Konohamaru disregarded the poorly disguised excuse and went along with the instructions without questioning his teacher.

It was when they passed underneath the Hokage Monument that he started believing in the subtle signs he had observed. The ground rumbled and shook, and there was a large tearing sound akin to an avalanche before stones fell from above. For the first time in Konoha's history, the enormous sculpture cracked, a fissure streaking across the Sandaime's likeness. Konohamaru finally acknowledged the impending sense of doom that had accompanied him ever since the monk crossed his path to the kitchen. Without any doubt, he knew that someone was coming after the Hokage, after his grandfather.

Konohamaru may have drilled assassination attempts into his daily schedule, but even he was aware of how close he was to his grandfather, to the venerable old man who supervised the entire village. That fact didn't deter Konohamaru from his endeavor partly due to a lack of recognition, true, but also because he knew that he stood no chance of winning, regardless of his own pedigree or claims to the contrary. After all, being the Hokage was synonymous across all Elemental Nations with possessing skills beyond the scope of the average ninja's comprehension.

And yet, now Konohamaru feared for his grandfather, the only one before Naruto who'd seen beyond the title of "Honorable Magomusuko". He feared the worst, for all signs pointed towards such a conclusion, despite all logic implying otherwise. After all, Hiruzen Sarutobi may be respected and revered as the Sandaime Hokage, yet he'd already retired once. Inside the ancestral Sarutobi compound, his relatives saw him as a tired old man weathering the stress of his office and well past his prime. They saw him with his public persona stripped away, stooped around the shoulders and wheezing now and then.

Thus it was that Konohamaru found himself concocting a plan to scour the city for his grandfather -a wild plan that his friends and fellow members of the Konohamaru Corps caught him scheming.

"Konohamaru," admonished Moegi in a whisper well below Iruka's detection limit, "you're not planning to disobey sensei, are you?"

"Of course not!" Upon the offended stares answering his statement, Konohamaru amended, "I'm just worried about jiji."

"But... but he's the Hokage!"

"I know, Udon, but jiji's old now. And he's always tired from taking care of everything in the village. I have to go help!"

"Konohamaru," ground both of his friends, voices raising just enough to perk Iruka's interest, "what do you think you're doing, ignoring us?"

"Indeed," interrupted the Academy teacher, Big-Head Jutsu fully engaged, "what do you three think you're doing?"

All three students gulped.

* * *

"Kukuku! My dear Sarutobi-sensei, why so fierce?"

"How dare you desecrate the previous Hokages' memories? How dare you use _that_ jutsu?"

"Ah! So you recognized the _Edo Tensei_, didn't you? Quite remarkable of you!"

Never once did Orochimaru's grin slip, or falter. Sarutobi felt dread creeping up his spine: this most probably meant that Orochimaru had something even worse in store. The Sannin confirmed the Hokage's hypothesis with his next statement.

"But then again, I guess you did earn the title of 'Professor', so perhaps I should have expected that. Oh! Silly me! I did expect that, and so I prepared another jutsu just for you. Aren't you touched, Sarutobi-sensei?" Before the Sandaime could answer, Orochimaru formed the four seals of the _Edo Tensei_. To everyone's surprise, however, he wasn't quite done. Instead of clapping his hands and summoning more human sacrifices as vessels, he twisted his fingers into the Dragon seal and shoved a mighty wave of chakra through his hands.

It was rather fortunate for the Hokage that the jutsu required a hand thrust to activate, as he'd been caught flat-footed. A sharp movement later, Orochimaru's hands rotated such that the palms of both hands were parallel to the floor, and he parted his fingers much as a serpent would its maw. Instead of pale skin, however, a black cloud floated behind the curled fingers, buzzing as a hornet's nest before a green sludge spewed forth from within the black miasma.

The Hokage had expected it to spill about as any normal liquid, and had been ready to jump back to avoid every single drop of the liquid given Orochimaru's well-known fixation with poisons and corrosives. What he hadn't expected, however, was for the liquid to pile on itself and solidify into a gel-like suspension, folding over and over again as its mass exceeded its holding capacity, stress overcoming the structural integrity of the green blob. The Hokage watched in growing horror as Orochimaru kept on piling more of the substance -apart from the initial spark of chakra, only a minimal trickle seemed required for this phase of the jutsu. He had to stop this before it slipped out of hand!

Tiles lifted from the roof, and the Hokage sent them flying in a variation of the popular _Kouyuu no Jutsu._ As soon as their path was set and therefore easy to predict, the Sandaime tweaked the _Kage Shuriken Bunshin no Jutsu_ to multiply their numbers. Yet Orochimaru stood impassively, not even bothering to prepare dodging the incoming squares of red-hot ceramic. Instead, he simply kept pouring out more of the mephitic liquid. As the first tile whistled its way above the green heap, a tendril extended itself from the main mass and caught the improvised projectile in mid-flight. Orochimaru merely smirked as he kept spewing out his jutsu through his hands, never once indicating any active control over this unexpected defense. Each of the other projectiles were similarly removed, with just as little action from Orochimaru himself. If anything, Orochimaru seemed amused by this development, by the frown wrinkling the Sandaime's face.

The Hokage, however, had earned his title of Professor by his encyclopedic knowledge of jutsu. If roof tiles weren't threatening enough, he would certainly oblige the request for harsher jutsu. First came a _Doton: Doryuu Taiga_ to remove the solid base beneath Orochimaru's jutsu while also hiding the formation of the _Doton: Doryuudan_. Even before the dragon had finished forming, he'd sped through and breathed out the _Katon: Karyuudan_ to set the mud projectiles aflame. Each of the technique was certainly nothing spectacular on its own, not for a Kage, yet the combination and flawless execution of the tactical offensive required Kage-level skills.

Yet even as Orochimaru's own guards were impressed, Orochimaru still did not bother even adjusting his expression. The collisions between the Sandaime's flaming mudballs and Orochimaru's surprise jutsu sprayed the green blob indiscriminately around, forcing the Sandaime to twist and weave his way around to evade the potentially lethal strands of gelatinous green hissing past him. After his earthen dragon slunk back out of existence and the swamp solidified around the half-submerged mound, the Hokage turned his attention back to Orochimaru. He wished he hadn't.

Orochimaru's widened smirk was the first indication of mischief. The second was the writhing of the green strands lying all over the Sannin, and the deliberate separation of Orochimaru's hands was the third. The last clue, however, was the one that had the Sandaime widening his eyes. A hand, grey and ashen, tore through the green sac in front of Orochimaru. Soon another hand crossed the film to join the first. And a third, and a fourth.

The arms writhed their way outside, skin a deathly gray. The limbs flailed back and forth, the movements too fluid and too abrupt all at once to seem natural. At length, the flopping about forced the green gel-turned-membrane asunder, and two humanoid cadavers crawled out from the wrapping that now writhed and fell apart into countless green strands. The Sandaime stared in fascination as these very residues coiled and hissed before twisting into the rough likeness of snakes. The Sandaime had no doubts that these would be just as lethal as true snakes -his opponent was Orochimaru, after all, and Orochimaru would settle for nothing less in his original creations.

A movement flickered in the Sandaime's peripheral vision, and his gaze drew back to rest upon the cadavers Orochimaru had spawned with this jutsu. Or, amended the Sandaime, what should have been cadavers. The flesh was punctured in several vital spots (vital to humans, the Hokage reminded himself), green mist oozing out from these apertures. Even the Hokage, used to gruesome sights from overseeing a Hidden Village during both of his long tenures, felt queasy when faced with Orochimaru's new creation.

"Sarutobi-sensei, what do you think of this jutsu? I made it myself, you see; I call it the _Hebi Kousei Shitai no Jutsu_, the Rebirth of Cadavers through Snakes. I had to have my underling specially prepare the specimens for a little over a month just for this, you know. He did surpass himself, if I say so myself. You see, Kabuto always does such good work with unethical medical experiments. Oh, and Sarutobi-sensei, please do avoid the snakes long enough to see what these specimens can do; I think you'll be surprised by what I learned from a certain exiled puppet-master."

The Hokage's mind flashed back to the last Shinobi War, where Suna had used many combat puppets to devastating effect. These, however, most definitely weren't controlled by Orochimaru in the same manner. The Sannin's hands were both relaxed, and the Sannin was laid-back, merely enjoying the show as a spectator, free from the single-minded mentality of typical puppet users. What, then, did Orochimaru mean by his comment?

The answer came when the first cadaver opened his mouth wider than any mammal could, completely dislocating his (its?) jaw in the manner of a snake gulping down its meal. Instead of swallowing, however, the corpse regurgitated a green blob that unfurled into the form of a snake. The Hokage evaded the serpentine thrust with the ease of a well-seasoned ninja, yet the sword that spurted from the snake's maw took the aged Kage by surprise. The Sandaime bent backwards, steering clear of the blade with but a hair's breadth.

There was no time to relax, however: the second cadaver had started forming handseals while the first had occupied the Sandaime's attention.

The Hokage recognized the sequence as one popularized by Orochimaru, and the Sandaime managed to vault above his first opponent just as the expected stream of acid burned his makeshift pommelhorse. His getaway was not quite successful just yet, as green tendrils hissed through the perforated shoulders upon which his hands rested, and snakes coiled around his wrists. Though the Hokage could never quite manage the extraordinary feats of the Hyuuga or medic-nins, his skills were still sufficient to ward off the threat with a buffer of chakra to deny direct contact with the snake. A second burst loosened the coils enough to allow his hands to slip through the trap.

One monkey-style hop and roll in-between the maze of serpents writhing on the floor later, Sarutobi Hiruzen faced both opponents once more. His eyes widened. The cadaver half-melted by the concentrated acid but an eyeblink ago was now mostly back to its undead-ness, and visibly reforming its skin where it hadn't already patched itself shut. This was most troubling indeed: how was he to defeat such a foe? And how could he possibly defeat Orochimaru with these distractions demanding his full attention?

* * *

Naruto's clones closed in on the _Ichibi no Shukaku _once more. The latter sneered, a spat of drool flying from the facial tic, and three clones poofed from existence when the collision with the glob of liquid surpassed their damage threshold. The number of clones sent after the colossal sand creature seemed insignificant, especially given the difference in sheer size between the two opponents. Indeed, it would have been so but for the power of conflicting summoning contracts hidden in Naruto's blood. Both blood-stained clones rushed forth undetected while their ceremonial guards sacrificed themselves by forming a pyramid to distract Shukaku. The tailed beast took the bait and smashed one oversized paw from overhead down through the chakra constructs and three meters into the ground before he noticed the two remaining clones darting towards his stationary hind legs.

One of Naruto's special clones suddenly swerved left while bending backwards until his skull thumped into the ground, barely ducking below a sand projectile that whistled above him. The other clone cartwheeled above a sweeping sand whip to land in a crouch mere centimeters below sand spearing the air above. These acrobatics persisted, the clones darting left and right as sand extruded from Shukaku's outstretched frontal paw to pepper the rough location of the clones with a barrage of improvised sand weapons, until serendipity led both clones to land feet-first on Shukaku's right hind paw, one from a tumbling pass above seventeen death traps and the other from a roll on the ground beneath buzzing discs criss-crossing the space he had occupied ut a second ago. Both clones now rushed through the five seals of the _Kuchiyose no Jutsu_ before Gaara could lock onto their new position, and slapped the still-smooth column of sand with their left hands at the very moment a pair of cruciform pupils located them.

Just as happened during practice, dimensional vortices bent backwards to birth a Summoning, swirling to wormhole a tunnel in nullspace between the other-worldly realm of the Summoned creature and the blood-smeared spots on Shukaku's hind paw. And just as happened during practice, the distortion fields from two contracts clashed with each other, alternately resonating and beating against each other until the pent-up energy of the space-time construct vibrated to the point of rupture. The disturbance spread from nullspace and cascaded through the entire matrix, gaining in potency with each node destroyed until an explosion greater than any _Fuuinjutsu_ master had ever created burst through Shukaku's right paw, shredding sand and chakra and the space-time continuum itself.

Shukaku first froze in shock at the pain before he howled and thrashed, upset by both the pain and the humiliation in equal parts. Never before had any ninja managed to cause such pain; not to a tailed beast such as Shukaku! It was true that several had dealt significant blows, particularly with _Raiton_ jutsu, but it was also true that it had ignored any and all such details until the vulnerable _jinchuuriki_ was hit. When Sasuke had severed Shukaku's arm, the chakra still remained his to command even when separated from his body, and the sand in the disconnected limb was still infused with his _youki_. Sasuke had before witnessed the end result: it took but a thought to reassume command of the pile of sand, a mere twitch of the mind barely worth any mention. Yet never -_never_- had anyone rent his leg so painfully, twisting and mangling and shredding the chakra in the sand until it no longer answered its owner.

* * *

Sasuke was caught off-guard when Gaara showed signs of pain -could this monstrous mountain of sand still be affected by mere physical sensations? However, what surprised Sasuke even more was the disproportionate number of poofs that occurred at once, clouds bursting all across the forest canopy and dispersing into the clearing even as Gaara wailed his destroyed sand limb. Yet Sasuke was far more concerned by the smokes now blurring his entire field of vision, for Sasuke had a nagging suspicion as to the source of this phenomenon.

When Sasuke twitched his head towards Naruto -the original Naruto- to confirm his fears, Sharingan unconsciously activating in response to his need for improved eyesight, clouds and clouds of residual smoke wafted from bushes where Naruto's clones had once resided, clones popping until naught but the original remained. A stump tipped Naruto's left arm, bloody and misshapen. If Sasuke's interpretation were correct, that jutsu had somehow cost Naruto his entire left hand, as well as badly mangled the forearm. However impressive that jutsu was, especially if it could stop a sand demon in its tracks, Sasuke had to admit that _that_ price was one even the Uchiha would reckon too steep.

Yet where Sasuke had expected his teammate to lose focus and descend into shock, Naruto regained focus instead, and drew his eyebrows together even as he channelled chakra in large volume, waves upon waves of blue swishing to the injured appendage until tainted chakra swirled around Naruto, an aura red and malevolent coalescing into a cloak. Yet no sooner had the form stabilized that it morphed once more, this time congregating around the gaping wound on Naruto's left forearm. In front of Sasuke's disbelieving eyes, muscle and tendons and blood vessels slurped from the wound, attaching themselves to spurting spikes of gleaming white. And then, skin grew over the hand, unblemished and smooth.

Just in time, too, as Gaara was readying yet another blast of air. Even from his far-away perch, Sasuke could see Naruto's eyes widen just before Gaara jumped from his remaining leg and aimed his drilling air bullet at Naruto. The latter prepared a hasty _Kawarimi, _yet was still caught at the edge of the _Renkuudan_ before his jutsu carried him to its destination. The winds battered the blond away, forcing Naruto to land with more force than any punch he must have suffered thus far and blowing him well beyond Sasuke's field of vision. Sasuke himself swayed on his branch, the chakra required to stay his position forcing shut his _doujutsu_ even as the disorientation from the winds hid the transition to normal eyesight.

A second explosion of wind sent currents gusting against Sasuke, though this time the effects were weak enough for the Uchiha to ignore. Naruto was rather less fortunate, noted Sasuke: the jutsu brought Naruto back into the clearing created by the earlier burst of compressed winds, his body limp as a rag doll in the punishing gusts of wind shrapnel. Yet despite the torn sleeves and ripped pants skin underneath, despite an ankle that had to be sprained upon contact against unrelenting earth, Naruto rolled with the impact once dropped to the ground, and tumbled out of control when a rock protruded where Naruto must have expected granular soil. Sasuke nevertheless was treated to Naruto's indomitable spirit when the latter rose from the ground and shook his mane this way and that, ostensibly to locate Gaara.

The latter, Sasuke noted with a scowl, took his time preparing yet another of his air bombs, gathering more air and chakra in his lungs than he had to that point. Sasuke rooted himself to his tree with chakra before Gaara's jutsu could wrench him from his perch. Fortunately, Gaara was busy enough forming his jutsu for Sasuke to secure his foothold. Indeed, the delay behind jutsu activation was such that Sasuke glanced at Gaara to discover the latter not only gulping ever more air to fuel his jutsu, but also redistributing the sand to sprout a new leg. Sasuke shook his leg: Gaara would have been a standing target if Naruto had pressed an attack, but the opportunity had now vanished.

By the time his attention returned to Naruto, the latter had somehow forced a doppelganger to appear directly behind Gaara, and the clone managed to complete a _Kawarimi_ with its creator just before Gaara released a nearly-solid blast of air. It was smaller in size than any of the previous _Fuuton_ bullets, yet clearly packed more chakra and even air in the restrained space. The results were devastating: even Gaara with all of the sand weighing him down and chakra anchoring him in place was forced to take a step backwards.

The winds tore at Naruto, buffeting him away into uncontrolled tumbling: unlike Sasuke, Naruto did not have the opportunity to strengthen his foothold before the jutsu blasted slicing winds all around the area. He'd fortunately been protected by Gaara from the bulk of the devastating jutsu, and Sasuke was not surprised to see his teammate flailing akimbo to control his flight, one that drew him near the Uchiha. Naruto immediately sped off again, heading straight for Gaara regardless of the dangers he would bring upon himself, yet the short glance Sasuke had shot at Naruto was sufficient to note a telltale squint in Naruto's eyes, one that Sasuke had learned to associate with some particularly devious plan. Sasuke could only hope this one wouldn't involve shredding a limb out of existence

By the time Naruto neared Gaara, the latter was still unaware of his opponent's location. Naruto seized the opportunity, forming a single cross-shaped seal and holding it longer than Sasuke was accustomed to. Roughly fifty clones appeared at irregular distances, scarce enough in density that some even appeared near Sasuke. Most Jonins would be proud of the achievement, yet Sasuke knew from first-hand experience that Naruto should be able to generate much more than the measly scattering of clones now present, especially given the care Naruto had shown in preparing his jutsu. Even during the Chunin finals, he had created much more simply to delay Neji, much less to mount a mission-critical offensive.

Naruto nevertheless seemed satisfied with the results. Roughly half of the Naruto clones formed the Rooster seal and held it, while the other half summoned more clones, covering even more grounds while keeping the same average distance between the chakra constructs. More of the clones molded chakra with the Rooster seal, intense concentration visible on their faces. Sasuke puzzled over this inefficient behaviour. He could not see the point of holding the Rooster seal this long, even though Sasuke knew of Naruto's prolonged Rooster seal in the modified _Repputoppa_. Indeed, Naruto's clones hadn't bothered building up enough of a chakra well for Sasuke to even detect! What could Naruto possibly be attempting? Why not simply summon the correct number in the first place? And why leave them so sparse around Gaara?

And then the plan became clear. The clones who had been idling heretofore now progressed through a familiar sequence of seals: Ram, Boar, Ox and Dog. All that was missing for the ever-useful _Kawarimi_ was the Snake seal. Once the four seals were formed, most of the clones with their hands in the Rooster seal started reinforcing their jutsu with more chakra, and red-tainted chakra soon swirled in when clear blue waves faltered -if Sasuke's guess were on the mark, Naruto was now relying on the _Kyuubi's youki_. Sasuke initially believed that Naruto would be attempting mass _Repputoppa._ Yet Gaara's _Fuuton _bullet dwarfed the _Repputoppa_ with such size and power that even with the sheer numbers involved -and the _Kyuubi's_ participation- the result should be no more threatening to the sand demon than a flea bite. What could the blond be up to?

And then some of the Narutos formed the rest of the seals while roughly half of the rest maintained their fingers locked in the Rooster formation. The sequence was one that Sasuke had never seen. The Uchiha was keen enough to immediately surmise that this was not the _Repputoppa_ but whichever jutsu it was that had leveled a fair portion of the arena during the finals. As soon as the realization flashed across his mind, Sasuke tried to activate his Sharingan. His chakra was much too depleted for such a maneuver, however, and the Sharingan blinked out of existence even before it fully formed. As such, he could do no more than watch as Naruto ran through the seals too fast for Sasuke to memorize in his weakened state. Wherever Gaara turned, the _Kawarimi_-ready clones would swap places with whichever clones were in Gaara's line of sight.

Indeed, when Sasuke looked more closely, he could even note how the lone clones, the ones who had been exchanged with the sacrificial ones for their protection while holding off on the final Rooster seal for more power, were all located behind the Suna _jinchuuriki,_ while the doppelgangers ready for _Kawarimi_ were even distributed across the entire area. Sasuke acknowledged this as a viable strategy: Naruto and his like-minded clones could now focus on preparing his jutsu while the _Kawarimi_-ready clones would ensure his safety. Gaara was bewildered enough by the clouds of smoke puffing out wherever he turned that no attack was launched for an entire minute.

When Gaara tired of this charade and struck out with his sand on all sides, Sasuke believed the ploy discovered and the plan voided. Yet puffs of smoke erupted even farther than Gaara had reached, and Sasuke revised his assessment. It seemed Naruto had already considered this possibility and prepared a counter for it. Gaara, on the other hand, seemed unaware of this latest development, content as he was on wreaking havoc to his surroundings. Sasuke prayed that it remained so until Naruto was ready: the survival of Team Seven -and of Konoha!- rested on it.

And then, Sasuke saw one Naruto viciously scrunch his eyebrows together, presumably to focus all of the energy available into the jutsu, _youki _and regular chakra fused as one. The strain seemed quite considerable, for that Naruto poofed out of existence even as his fingers were locked in the Rooster seal. The dense sand at the base of Gaara's tail cracked almost simultaneously, a faint web of stress lines flickering into existence, undetectable but for Sasuke's genetically enhanced vision, one superior to most ninjas' even without the Sharingan. The tears grew more pronounced as another Naruto consumed itself to unleash the strange technique for a second time, and then a third by yet another clone.

Gaara was hopping in the air with each thrust, yelping in pain as ever more of the jutsu landed in its weak spot. The sand demon thrashed around, yowling and thrashing wildly in its blind bid to escape the biting pain. Countless trees taller than the village walls were uprooted as easily as wind blew off lone straw strands and thrown just as far, yet Naruto's clones stayed ahead of Gaara's reflexive destruction with ever-decreasing numbers of _Kawarimi_. When sand started leaking freely from the cracks, flowing down as water from a fall, all of the remaining jutsu-wielding clones unleashed the fury of the winds as one, and even Sasuke felt gosebumps rise from the sheer volume of chakra being focused: though Sasuke was no chakra sensor and could only detect the faintest tingling when faced with significant chakra build-up, he could now feel waves upon waves of chakra rubbing against his skin, swishing and whistling through the air with enough density to distort the refractive index of the air despite their focused state. Sasuke was rather glad he did not have the Sharingan activated: seeing such a display could well have fried his optic nerves.

An explosion worthy of five of Gaara's compressed airballs rained sand through the air, stinging Sasuke's eyes and sending the Uchiha into a coughing fit. By the time the cloud of sand settled down, the Uchiha's hair colored yellow by the previously airborne particles, three details stood out to Sasuke. The first was Gaara's utter defeat, who now stretched out on a difform mound of sand, unblinking eyes wide open. Sasuke would have thought him dead had his chest not moved at that moment, or his lips formed words. The Suna nin was clearly in shock at the turn of events. Sasuke scoffed. If even he, an Uchiha allied to the pesky blond, could not have predicted this outcome, how could a foreigner possibly come to terms with this incongruity Naruto had conjured?

The second phenomenon of interest was Naruto's extreme exhaustion, down on his knees and panting harder then Sasuke had ever seen, currently even retching dry heaves. That jutsu must have been powerful if it could level a mountain of living sand, yet Sasuke had never before seen Naruto in such a state before, and it disconcerted him. Cold logic dictated a price for such awesome power, or for _any_ form of power, really, and Sasuke acknowledged the deal -and the price- as a fair one.

Comparing the two combatants, Gaara was physically in much better shape despite the blood staining his left shoulder. Any who had watched the fight, however, would point to Naruto as the winner of the contest. Such was the fickle way of the ninja: visible benchmarks rarely were reliable indicators for the outcome of their confrontation.

Which led to the third event of interest: Sakura moaned from the forest bed, covering her ribs with her hands. If anything, she appeared in even better condition than Gaara, yet the wet sounds of coughing sounded none too healthy. Sasuke knew she need had first aid -he'd seen firsthand what pressure the sand could crank, and even a fraction of such power could cause severe internal injuries. Yet the Uchiha stood transfixed, watching all three persons instead of rushing Sakura to the hospital as he knew he should. He had already had intimate knowledge enough of losing close ones to last a lifetime, and as he had earlier stated, he would not lose anyone, _could_ not lose anyone. After all, those who abandoned their teammates were supposedly worse than trash, and no Uchiha would ever be trash. (Except, his treacherous mind supplied, if doing so would yield him the eyes he needed.) With this thought, he prepared for a take-off, plotting the shortest path to the hospital while he descended to drape Sakura across his back.

Yet currently, he was happy he hadn't immediately set off. The Suna kunoichi had been forcibly shaken from her stupor by her other teammate, the puppet-user, and now both jumped down where Gaara and Naruto were conversing. Sasuke interjected himself between the newly-arrived foreign-nin and his teammates -though still drained, he had a few mean wire tricks in store for the puppet user, and _Katon_ jutsu even in his weakened state should overcome anything the blond kunoichi could launch after him. However, Gaara held off the confrontation when he requested to simply head back to Suna, much to the surprise of everyone present. It seemed the dobe had somehow managed to solve the conflict without permanent damage with his foolish ideals and idiotic methods. Sasuke couldn't quite prevent his lips from curling, or his brows from scrunching together.

* * *

Konohamaru was exhausted. The first order of business had been to escape from Iruka's clutches. While this would normally be nigh-impossible, especially after the Academy Instructor had wizened to the vast majority of even Naruto's tactics, the current situation was anything but normal. Iruka had already caught the self-named "Konohamaru Corps" once since the evacuation, yet the instructor was currently too distracted to monitor his charges as closely as the situation would have otherwise warranted, encumbered as Iruka was by the task of ensuring the evacuation of civilians and children to the area reserved specifically for this purpose inside the Hokage Monument. Thus, Konohamaru was able to _Henge_ himself into a rock right after creating a _Bunshin_ to replace him while he escaped. He was quite aware that the meager clone would disperse once the distance reached beyond that which he could control, but such a matter was inconsequential.

If all went as planned, he would be out of the underground complex by then, and Iruka would not be allowed to retrieve him. Where Iruka could not afford to divide his attention, however, Udon and Moegi were alert for tiny cues indicative of such actions from Konohamaru. Udon and Moegi noticed him before he slipped out, and thoroughly derailed his plans with liberal doses of common sense. Once his clone dispelled, how was he to escape Iruka's search? Even if he did, what hope had he of surviving outside, with enemy ninjas rampaging throughout the village?

This would mark the very first time the Konohamaru Corps planned an operation well above their qualifications. After much deliberation, the trio concluded that a staggered exit would be best: Konohamaru would first slip out and prepare illusory clones to distract Iruka while Moegi covered for his absence. Udon would then slip away from the crowd while Moegi prepared herself. If Iruka still hadn't detected the jutsu, the maze of _Bunshins_ created by both Konohamaru and Udon should be sufficiently complex by then to allow Moegi safe passage even were the Academy teacher to pursue them.

They revised their plans once more before enacting it. Konohamaru and Udon both managed to evade Iruka's vigilance, much as they had planned. After the requisite delay, Moegi covered herself with a _Bunshin_ much as her comrades had done a few minutes prior. Yet things didn't occur as smoothly as they had expected, for Iruka chose that very moment to move further into the bowels of the Hokage Monument.

It was at that point that Moegi noticed a fatal flaw in their scheme: they did not have any way to update their status. Yet solutions to the problem would have to wait for later as Moegi was now engrossed in finding a way to slip away unnoticed long enough to reach the safety of the distractions set by Konohamaru and Udon. She saw her salvation come just as she started despairing.

* * *

Kumiko was a twenty-year-old Genin frustrated with her lot in life. Though she desperately wished for a promotion, it seemed forever out of her grasp. Even in the current crisis, one where the enemy had managed to take the fight into Konoha proper, she was relegated to perform grunt duties. Always and always, it was the second-tier treatment; and whenever she participated in the Chunin exams, there was invariably an unsurmountable obstacle at the very first test. It had been a lie-detection test last time, and it was a written exam in this iteration.

It was therefore no surprise that she grumbled constantly under her breath as she led civilians to safety. So absorbed was she with her all-important ruminations that she stumbled straight into any and all pebbles on the cavern floor, though her undoubtedly stellar ninja skills and reflexes allowed her to ignore the near-constant set of collisions life sent her way. Why did the Heavens hate her so?

To add insult to injury, she almost -_almost!_- tripped over the pipsqueak who dared step in her path. Only fancy _taijutsu_ footwork allowed a collision that would surely have otherwise sent the delinquent brat into the hospital. Kumiko filled her lungs to the brim with breath as soon as she completed the elaborate whirl that returned her face-to-face with the careless youngster, ready to scold whoever had dared interrupt her most important task.

* * *

Moegi had to forcibly choke on her sigh. After all, it wouldn't do at all to tip Kumiko to her plan! She had needed a distraction, and clumsy Kumiko never failed to disturb any and all unfortunate enough to be cursed with her presence. Moegi first had to slink to the back of the group, a task made simple by the uneasy ruckus pervading the assembled Konoha citizens. Once there, she kept to the shadows much as the Academy had taught and waited until the distance was optimal: neither so large as to make her entrance detectable, yet with sufficient space to maneuver herself easily.

So intent was she that Moegi almost failed to notice a telltale twitch in Kumiko's neck. Yet the Konohamaru Corps had often run into the pompous Genin and therefore knew her tics and habits better than she herself, a task admittedly easier than it would appear at first glance. Nevertheless, this very foreknowledge handed Moegi the perfect opportunity.

First Moegi displaced a pebble just enough for Kumiko to place more of her body weight on her left foot than originally intended. Once the Genin reacted accordingly, Moegi snuck to the next shadow along the wall to place herself in position just as Kumiko regained her balance. The older Genin shifted her face forward to hide all traces of her bumbling -or did she not notice the pebble at all?

Regardless of the reason, Moegi was glad that Kumiko was as predictable as ever. While the Academy student would never wish such a trait on Konoha soldiers, she was for once glad that Kumiko never seemed to notice how dangerous it was for her to keep such a restricted set of mannerisms, for this very trait allowed Moegi to slip in front of the Genin from the latter's blind spot.

The surprised ninja performed an awkward side-step, one which most of Moegi's colleagues could execute with much more elegance. Indeed, the flailing limbs and overextended torso would have allowed an opponent to perform any number of fatal attacks and incapacitating injuries, or removed countless objects through innumerable chasms in her stance. Moegi was however prepared for such a travesty of Academy-level _taijutsu_ and therefore wisely spent her time preparing a _Henge_ to resemble a nearby pebble and then replace herself with the very pebble using a _Kawarimi_.

Unlike standard execution of the jutsu, however, she held onto the _Bunshin_ even after the rock started falling, forcing it to remain intact despite the disturbance within. Most ninjas didn't bother with such precautions, as most performed the _Kawarimi_ while fighting and therefore required their concentration on other tasks. Moegi, on the other hand, could afford the single-minded focus necessitated for her purposes on top of staying close enough to manipulate the _Bunshin_ believably, for her goal was deception and evasion rather than escape from otherwise unavoidable attacks.

Kumiko was easily fooled by such an elementary ploy, much as Moegi had assumed, and she was for a moment tempted to remain until the entire group passed well out of sight before resuming her escape. Where Kumiko had been an easy target, however, the same couldn't be expected from Iruka, who had divined even the most convoluted of Naruto's escape plans. Therefore, Moegi could not afford to let her ruse show before she made her getaway. She waited until everyone focused on the commotion before selecting a nearby rock with similar dimensions to perform yet another switch. She repeated the maneuver, slowly increasing her distance until she could barely decipher the murmurs anymore. The next jump would be her last, and therefore it would have to be enough to reach the safety of Konohamaru and Udon's decoy _Bunshins_.

And then she spied the movement of a scarf on the periphery of her vision field. Moegi smiled, and dispelled her _Bunshin_ just as she warped to her teammates' side. Time for mayhem!

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the very long wait, and thanks for the reviews. I actually had this exactly in its current form since the last update. Unfortunately, fanfiction didn't allow me to update the story due to some technical problems,and I just didn't feel motivated to write if I couldn't publish. Now that it's working again, I'll start re-reading the entire story (and probably do lots of edits along the way). As much as I would wish to still update this at least once every month, I am now working and will therefore have less time to devote to fanfiction. I will post the next chapter in two months or as soon as I finish the 22nd (or was it 23rd?) chapter. This is of course assuming no techincal problems will bar my efforts then. If a similar problem arises then, I promise I'll update my profile to say so.

On a separate note, NekoKaru has stopped responding. I'm hoping that my beta is just really busy, but as I haven't had this looked over closely yet, I'm afraid the English might suffer. I hope you'll forgive my mistakes, and I hope even more that you'll point them out to me :).


	18. Ch17 Oto Invasion Pt III 1

The Konohamaru Corps sped across the rooftops, avoiding detection by all those around them. Not that it was a difficult task with the mayhem erupting across the whole of Konoha: civilians were still evacuating in small pockets while Konoha ninja delayed the invaders with whichever tactics were available, distracting and redirecting their opponents' attention as necessary. All too often, though, such methods were insufficient, and simply didn't quite possess the edge necessary to hold off the aggressive Oto and Suna nin. The trio of Academy students witnessed one Chunin guard suddenly spout blood form his eyes the black marks crawling around his opponent s skin suddenly weaved together, and merged into a purple snout from which erupted some airborne toxins; and yet another Konoha ninja fell beneath the ruthless assault from a Suna Jonin, exploding into bloody chunks from some Fuuton jutsu. Yet, despite all the ongoing fights and stray jutsu littering the air, despite the shouting and confusion, all three Academy students stayed true to their path, armed with naught but three half-mastered Academy techniques and their own wits. The obstacle course they ran was unlike anything taught at the Academy, with live shuriken and kunai thrown to maim and kill, crisscrossing the entire area with regard to none but their target, as destructive elemental techniques and explosive weaponry pockmarked and distorted the landscape until the familiar just wasn't.

One deflected Fuuton jutsu leveled Konohamaru's favorite clothing store -the very one where he had first spotted his signature scarves- while runaway acid sprays melted the Kouzan, a staple Konoha establishment serving dango to the ninja community since the very foundation of the village. Konohamaru did wonder why dango sticks would litter the corpses of enemy ninja nearby if the shop was destroyed, though he did not linger long on the matter before scurrying off once more.

A misguided fuuma shuriken tore through a ninja supply store, and the three Academy students had to hop out of the way of the falling roof as well as assorted weaponry dropping from their stands. Yet another threat loomed just as they believed themselves safe: a Katon jutsu roared toward their vicinity, its original target having tumbled out of its path. It had been intended to incinerate a Chunin-strength ninja, yet at this distance, and without the element of surprise, it was easy for the three children to sidestep it.

Or it would have been, had there not been an explosive tag buried in the rubble of the erstwhile store. Unfortunately for the Konohamaru Corps, the Katon jutsu was powerful enough to dislodge cement blocks and battle-axes alike while retaining enough heat to ignite the paper. The ensuing explosion knocked the Academy students off-course, blasting them into coincidentally placed corpses of deceased Konoha defenders, and the following shower of sharpened metal forced them to seek shelter underneath a knocked-down steel door from a flattened bank.

However, all three were determined, and onward they pressed nary a minute later, heading in the rough direction of the Kage precisely, the glowing wards that surrounded a rectangular space near the Kage box, rising higher than could be seen and glowing an ominous purple. Despite the vast difference in skill, and despite their unthreatening nature, one Oto Chunin seemed determined to stop them in their tracks. Three clouds of buzzing metal were sent, one for each member of the self-named "Konohamaru Corps". They dodged out of reflex from their time spent training for conscription and from extra-curricular ninja-playing sessions, yet that much had been anticipated by their opponent.

A kunai awaited each of the Academy students, dull grey blade contrasting with the white paper wrapped around the handle.  
Even before they landed, Konohamaru yelled to warn his teammates of the explosive tags. Udon was close enough to the Sandaime's grandson that he could yank the trailing scarf, thereby removing both Genin hopefuls from the brunt of the explosions intended for them. The shockwave, on the other hand, still extended far enough to send them tumbling head over heels in a tangle of cloth and limbs.  
Moegi, on the other hand, had no one to grab onto, and no one to pull her out of danger. Instead, she attempted the Kawarimi for the first time outside the safety of a controlled environment, and without the supervision of Iruka to ensure the safety of the operation. Three strands of hair weren't quite fully cloaked in chakra before she made the substitution. Those three strands pulled back when she activated the technique, pulled back and tore at the delicate nociceptors in her scalp. The pain was brief and localized, but it had disrupted her concentration at a critical moment. The jutsu was surprisingly completed without any serious harm to her body, but left her cross-eyed for a few seconds -a few seconds too long, a few seconds where she was a sitting target in a warzone with one Chunin onto her and the other two members of their motley crew.

Their opponent was well-trained enough to know that enemies should not -could not- be discounted until a few seconds after the lethal blow had been dealt. As such, he was well aware that all three of his targets had somehow escaped their fate. His annoyance escaped through clenched teeth in the form of a growl even as five alternative strategies surged to his mind. Yet he clamped down on his emotions and rejected all five before even analyzing one. Those were plans devised in a fit of anger, and anger clouded his judgment; after all,Orochimaru had said so, and Orochimaru was always right. The three children (toddlers, really) may well be the Academy students they appeared, but their skills were as sharp as most rookie Genin from Oto. He'd have to treat them with respect -some, at least; enough to spend more than one eyeblink conjuring a viable tactic.

Instead, he used up one entire heartbeat -first he devised the plan, and double-checked it, and then spent the time in-between two heartbeats to ascertain that all the necessary equipment was there, and that the idiots who'd gotten themselves entangled against him were still dazed enough for the plan to work. The Oto Chunin nodded once, a sharp bob of his head to confirm to himself before addressing the Konohamaru corps. "You brats! You saw through a simple two-step, did you? Well, let's see if you can survive through the next attack!"

And suddenly, immediately, the Konohamaru Corps found themselves on the run, dodging kunai and shuriken and improvised projectiles, leaping over falling debris and rolling underneath ninja wire webbing over the terrain. And yet they were falling behind, the sharp metal weapons whistling steadily closer and the margin for errors ever decreasing. They had trained hard for the Academy and had practiced hard at playing ninja, yet this was beyond anything they had ever expected of themselves at this stage of their careers. Despite outnumbering their opponent, the latter managed to split his attention evenly between all three Konoha residents, and his superior experience and training seniority showed in his ability to control the flow of the fight. Thus, the three companions felt matching sets of bruises and cuts blossoming over the entirety of their bodies barely over one minute into this madness.

The punchline to the Chunin's plan, however, was not to bleed these children to death. Instead, he'd snuck in a few explosive tags at random intervals. After maneuvering his preys into position, he drove them backwards, forced them to flip directly over the gathered firepower. He then lit the area with a total of seven tags -more than a third of the stock he had packed in his pouch. 'No matter,' thought the Chunin as he waited for a few seconds, 'I still have Orochimaru's gift with me, and the remaining seventeen should still be more than sufficient for distractions should I need them. At least I had some fun destroying those know-it-all pieces of Konoha trash!'

The sound of shifting pebbles stayed his leap. The Chunin whirled around, exasperation mounting into frustration as he noted the pipsqueaks rising on the outer edge of pulverized cement. It seemed he'd still underestimated their ninjutsu aptitude as well as their resiliency. This time, he resolved, he wouldn't even toy with them. He raised both hands before squinting his eyes, concentrating on covering each of his targets with his chakra field. The chunin prepared a Kyoumesei, based off Dosu s melody arm in his left hand, and multiple Zankuha from his right arm. However, just as he was about to release his jutsu, he found that all three Academy students had already completed the Dog-Boar-Tiger,were now locking fingers in the Ram seal to help channel the chakra along the jutsu prior to activating it.

The Chunin found himself surprised by the insight: by transforming into a smaller (and harder) shape such as a fuuma shuriken or, should their skills and chakra allow it, an even smaller object such as a kunai, the students would dramatically decrease the probability of injury from the unknown jutsu. Their efforts were nonetheless wasted in this instance as the Kyoumeisei would easily dispel their transformation. Thus, the Chunin decided to disregard their strategy and proceeded to release his jutsu as planned, if delayed by the momentary surprise at the Konohamaru Corps's actions.

That freezing, slight as it was, cost him the victory. Whereas Moegi and Udon did indeed morph into Fuuma Shurikens that lay lain flat on the ground, the Bunshins they'd cast prior to their transformations nicely complemented Konohamaru's own version of the Henge no Jutsu. More accurately, the Oto Chunin found himself faced with three buxom ladies, their giggles enticing him from within the tastefully placed puffs of cloud. The Chunin was truthfully not one to usually follow the whims of his libido, much less fall prey to an attack as blas as the one Konohamaru and his friends had sparked on the spur of the moment.

However, he had expected something else, had steeled his entire being to look as closely as possible at the results of the transformation in order to counter whichever attack the trio may launch with a timely response. One setback for such a mentality was that he left his mind wide open for the vast majority of psychological attacks. Thus he found himself propelled backward by the blood jetting forth from his nose, and knocked out by the collision of his skull through the brick wall behind him.

Though Konohamaru hadn't doubted the perverted jutsu's effectiveness, he was rather surprised to note that a three-person mimicry yielded much the same effect as Naruto's fullblown Harem no Jutsu. In truth, he was perhaps as surprised by the reaction the Oto Chunin had displayed as the latter had been caught flat-footed by the unusual approach to offensive genjutsu.

The Hokage's grandson had grown up around elite instructors, however, and had had basic ninja guidelines drilled into him as long as he could remember. Thus, he did not let himself be distracted by his surprise for too long and snapped his companions out of their stupor (and their transformations) by pulling them along to their original destination, to the purple prism stretching to the clouds above the arena.

Along the way, they noted how most Konoha ninja still seemed to be holding back, adopting evasive maneuvers within their own city against opponents. This was madness! Why would the Konoha ninjas throw away the homefield advantage, wondered Konohamaru?  
It wasn't simply a matter of holding out for reinforcements, as the pattern held regardless of the numbers on each side, regardless of the losses incurred by the delaying tactics. The only ones who struck did so from the shadows, well hidden beyond the Academy students' ability . It seemed that they were untouchable by the invaders as well, wraiths slithering among the red-bright targets of visible but meek Konoha ninjas until they struck, sporadically felling groups of enemies with each swoop before dissipating, leaving no trace of their passage but for the vanquished targets.

The regular Konoha troops seemed as confused by this party as the Oto and Suna nins, yet they did not detract from their original goal. This unknown force seemed to be working in their favor at the moment, and they would gladly accept the help even as the Konoha nin kept on their toes and attempted to identify the shady assassins much as the foreigners were. Yet these strikes were few and far in-between, and none of the parties left standing had enough data for in-depth analysis. The Konohamaru Corps was therefore not surprised to see the defending Konoha military pursue their original mission even as they cast wary glances when the rare strikes did occur.

At that moment, a hawk flew overhead, and the Konoha ninja cheered. The restraint shown all around roared into an impressive display of strength, sudden as a spark igniting an oil barrel. In one alley a swordswoman who had been dodging like a squirrel to evade her naginata-wielding opponent suddenly slid beneath the high arc of the naginata to thrust her own weapon through her opponent s throat. Konohamaru squinted his eyes at the purple hair of the swordswoman. Could that be the ANBU operative whose name he had overheard as Yuugao?

The Academy student shook his head at his foolishness and darted over a timber laying on the road only to stumble as vines seemed to sprout from the very earth. A quick glance around confirmed his suspicion: some form of genjutsu had been cast, most likely ensnaring any in the vicinity. Thankfully the battle of conflicting illusions quickly resolved itself when the Konoha ANBU -Yuugao, as Konohamaru recalled- switched into an elemental-jutsu combination offensive, while the flashy Raiton jutsu crinkling the adjacent roof ceased when Kurenai cast a genjutsu on the Oto invader.

As all three members of the Konohamaru Corps rounded a corner, however, they saw that not all Konoha defenders fared as well. They glimpsed Sound and Wind ninja straining the air against a defense of Earth and Water even as another group of Konoha Chunin prepared a jutsu from behind the safety of the earthen wall -from what Konohamaru could tell, it seemed to be the Ryuuka no Jutsu, though the kunai at the end of the wires had yet to be thrown. The opposing force, on the other hand, was also readying some other ammunition to strike down the defensive barrier: two Oto ninja pulled a wire taut in an intricate pattern between them while a third focused his chakra forcibly through a Tiger seal, eyes closed in concentration.

Beyond the temporary stalemate, another one was quickly unravelling to the detriment of the Konoha combatants. Four Suna ninja had banded together to unleash a powerful Fuuton attack that hacked and quartered the first two of their opponents, painting the landscape red in the aftermath of the gory offensive. They took a moment to regain their breath, ostensibly having depleted their stores with the powerful jutsu.

This might have been a critical mistake to commit in the middle of a fight between shinobi, yet both of the remaining members of the Konoha squad were temporarily incapacitated as well, though from the streams of blood fired at their eyes rather than chakra expenditure. It was all too clear that the standstill between Konoha defenders and the joined forces of Oto and Suna ninjas would resolve in favor of the foreigners, after which the fight nearer to Konohamaru would also be concluded.

Konohamaru could not let that happen. Contrary to common belief, the Hokage's Grandson did have an accurate assessment of his own abilities and was thus aware that he could not possibly hope to compete against all these ninjas, or even one of the two clusters. Indeed, the only true challenge he might have posed would have been against their libido, yet that would also cause friendly fire. Unless...

"Udon, Moegi, how much ninja wire do you have?"

"I have a full roll, boss," answered Udon. He surprisingly refrained from clearing his perpetually running nose.

"That's good enough," said Konohamaru. "I need it."

As soon as the equipment was ready, Konohamaru threw a handful of shuriken at the Oto ninja still focusing his chakra with the Ram seal. The attention of all three Oto reserves were split between preparing their current jutsu and the incoming projectiles. The distraction was brief, lasting barely longer than an eyeblink, yet it was enough for the Hokage's grandson.

Wirework was an unusual skill within Konoha. The skills involved were basic enough that few bothered teaching it: all it required was basic understanding of knots and passable memory, enough to memorize some configurations. Yet despite the simplicity of the theory, true mastery of wire-work required nimble fingers and hours upon hours of hard work, much of it directed at a discipline with a steep learning curve. Indeed, Academy students often graduated without proper instruction in the myriad applications of standard patterns, or were forced to develop their own tricks as Naruto had. This was the very reason why Ebisu had favored this oft-neglected segment of ninja skill when teaching Konohamaru: it would burn through the hours otherwise spent harassing the Hokage, and it would complement nicely with standard Academy instruction.

Or at least, that was the intention, an intention that was crumbled to the side upon collision with reality. Konohamaru had no care for the traditional art, and was unwilling to spend time and effort on a venture that didn't yield immediate results much as children were wont to expect. Thus Ebisu found himself continually chasing after the "Honorable Magomusuko" and wasting his precious skills as an instructor on basic baby-sitting rather than imparting his valuable knowledge to worthy ones. It took one fateful meeting with Naruto before Konohamaru was willing to sit down and grind his way through the wirework lessons, going through the motions over and over again, surprising Ebisu with his newfound tenacity. It was due to this very drilling by Ebisu that Konohamaru recognized the focal knots in the pattern stretched between two Oto ninjas, and the tedious the current venture could even be considered only after Konohamaru had endured countless such tedious hours.

Shuriken sliced through the air, ninja wire trailing behind in the expected configurations. The Academy lessons thankfully paid off: his aim was true and the projectiles flew in a straight arc through the holes between the web of wires. The opponents were able to easily dispose of the projectiles, yet they had served their purpose: the pattern had slackened for a brief period of time, and the wires trailing behind were now entangled with the Oto's wires before tension was re-established.

Of course, he now reflected with a grimace, the next few minutes would depend entirely on his hunch. The pattern centered its symmetry around a loop in the middle, and thus it seemed reasonable to assume that the loop was critical for the jutsu. It followed that disturbing the loop, whether by displacing the symmetry or by destabilizing it, would disrupt the jutsu. Therefore, if he were to displace the solid construction at the focal points, the central portion would unravel entirely at the slightest stress, such as upon jutsu activation.  
Or so hoped Konohamaru, for the chances for survival of the Konohamaru Corps (and the Konoha ninja facing the Oto nin) would dwindle out of significance if he was proven wrong.

The invaders leered at Konohamaru for one tense moment before returning their attention to their jutsu. How could one measly child, probably not even Genin in rank, hope to shift their plans askew with but simple shuriken? It never occurred to them to look out for hidden ninja wires, nor did it cross their minds that the insolent brat could have received elementary wire-work instruction, enough to create critical problems.

And thus the ninja who had held the Ram seal until now released his pent-up chakra from interlocked fingers into the webbed pattern in front of him, completely disregarding the disturbance. Konohamaru held his breath and looked closely. The wire he had launched with the shuriken had looped exactly as he wished, and the shuriken were even parried with enough force to create a few nicks in the wire. With the vibrations caused by jutsu activation, these tiny cuts proved sufficient to cause friction against the loose strands, thus resulting in deeper and wider abrasions until the entire system collapsed.

Konohamaru had hoped to neutralize whatever it was the Oto nins were about to launch. He did not expect the jutsu to backfire, nor was he prepared to see the sound waves flail the flesh off their targets, sending blood spattering about. In one fell swoop, Konohamaru's distraction had incapacitated three Oto ninjas and left them open to attack. And attack the Konoha ninja did, one teammate launching the shurikens even as the remaining two exhaled the Ryuuka no Jutsu.

And all at once an inferno raged around the Suna nin, the same ninja who had been content with delaying the confrontation until reinforcements came. The fires roared and licked at everything it touched, angry and hungry, until even the metal shuriken[b] concealed within the flak jackets were as molten and misshapen as burnt chocolate. None were as shaken as Konohamaru, however, and he would have perished from the Suna reinforcements swooping in had the Konoha compatriots not erected a mud wall around him in time to shield the first volley of winds lacerating through the air. Fortunately, the three Academy students were shocked back into action by the collision between jutsus. They rolled away into the rubble, following Konohamaru s lead, and slipped past a jagged crater to dart into the uneven terrain of a demolished building. When they came out on the other side, the Suna ninja had already long since forgotten their involvement, occupied as they were by the formal Konoha military.

Twice more they intervened to help their home village against the invaders, though they had learned their lesson and now made sure to keep to the shadows as best they could when striking out and to retreat whenever possible, preferably leaving no one the wiser. The first opportunity came when they felled a teetering wall onto a vicious Oto nin, one who had black markings spreading. The distraction allowed the two Chunins facing her to regroup long enough to launch a combined Suiton/Raiton jutsu that both immobilized and incapacitated her as well as created cover for the Konohamaru Corps to retreat.

The second was by creating a trio of Bunshins designed to simulate the Konohamaru-style Sexy no Jutsu. Whereas the environment of the previous clashes left no space for such a maneuver, Konohamaru saw an open space behind the Konoha Jonin, an open space that beckoned to Konohamaru s modified jutsu as light to a moth. The sudden lapse in attention from the Oto nin, one with grotesque features and four arms, startled the lone Jonin who was waiting for the proper moment to Kawarimi away.

Nonetheless, the Jonin saw the opportunity to end this fight, and thus modified his plan to sink a kunai deep into the Oto nin's cranium instead before stabbing him through the chest for good measure. By the time he turned over to address whatever had so distracted his defeated opponent, kunai now raised defensively in front of him, all three Academy students had already retreated and their Bunshin dispelled in their haste to return to their original mission: verify the Hokage's state.

However, three airborne strides over demolished walls and pulverized pavement later, the trio veered off yet again from their path. They had observed movement from the periphery of their vision, and were now investigating. It seemed that much of the invading force had infiltrated the village through a breach in the wall, a breach made by...

'Is that a giant three-headed snake?' wondered Konohamaru. 'What is a giant snake doing in Konoha?' There was no time for idle musings, Konohamaru reminded himself. After all, Naruto certainly wouldn't, and so neither would he!

And yet, Konohamaru was aware that a decision was required of him and his teammates: should they alert the troops he'd passed of the problem, or should they assume that said troops were aware of it? Should they engage the monstrous aggressor? Could they reasonably damage the snake? His Sexy no Jutsu was unlikely to provide even a distraction, and neither would his wirework. Or any other skill at their disposal, Konnohamaru noted grimly. Thus, it would be best to postpone engagement with the gigantic beast until reinforcements were called.

Or at least, such was the plan, until the reptile spotted them before training one of its three pairs of eyes entirely on the students. From then on, the Konohamaru Corps was engaged in a mad scramble for some cover, one that seemed sturdy enough to stop a creature who could casually dismantle a twenty-foot-tall seal-reinforced structure. Every time they settled down, the vibrations pulsing through the ground illustrated how fragile each shelter was, and off they went yet again. They gave up at last, a full ten minutes later, and waited with bated breath for the snake to crash in from the roof above as its shadow drew nearer and ever nearer. Ten seconds later, however, the rumblings of the earth seemed to draw away from them. Konohamaru peeked outside, eyes wide with disbelief. The snake hadn't been after them?

It was Udon who finally pointed out how unlikely it would be for the monstrous animal to target them specifically: whether as food, adversaries or even squealers, more suitable prey than three measly children abounded in the neighbourhood. Konohamaru couldn't quite decide on his feelings to the cold light of logic: should he be glad to be alive, or should he be offended by the implied dismissal?  
Konohamaru shook his head to remind himself of his immediate dilemma: should they attack the snake, alert friendly shinobi or ignore the threat altogether? A short conference between the Academy students settled the issue: they would keep heading towards their original destination and alert whoever they might cross, but going out of their way to find a suitable ninja would be a waste of time since such a large animal would be unlikely to pass through a hidden ninja village unnoticed.

All three children vaulted above a burnt-down bookshelf and tucked underneath falling timber, rolling back to their feet to avoid being crushed by a crashing roof. Yet the danger was now insignificant, unworthy of their attention: they could see the stadium in which the Chunin Exam Finals were taking place -were to take place. They hopped over a dying Oto ninja with a newfound spring in their steps and carelessly evaded the shrapnel ejected by a wood wall collapsing on their right. What did stop them in their tracks, eyes wide in startlement, was the carcasses of three Suna shinobi thumping down right where they would have alighted.

An odd man with a mane of white hair and the kanji for oil in his hitai-ate followed the inanimate bodies soon after.

"Yo! Any idea why three shinobi would be hunting you three specifically?"

It took Konohamaru a short while to register that the man was addressing them. "I dunno."

"Hmph! Figures. Suna nins just aren't what they used to be."

"Umm," said Udon while sniffling, "did you take them out?"

"Why, yes I did! You should all be grateful to me, you little twerps."

Konohamaru had caught on to his friend's line of thought. "Hey! You must be strong! We saw a really big snake heading back that way. Can you take care of it?"

"Which snake was it? No, don't answer that. You obviously wouldn't know the snake's name. What did the snake look like?"

"It's a three-headed one," piped in Moegi. "Really big, too!"

Jiraiya sighed in relief. He knew of the snake, as well as its weakness. "Good. I'll take care of that. You three stay here! I'll be right back to help you to the shelters"

"But we gotta go see Jiji," protested Konohamaru.

"Stay here; we'll discuss this later. This will take just a moment."

Jiraiya vanished in a swirl of leaves before the trio could explain their rush. In truth, he was confused: shouldn't all civilians have evacuated from the area already? What were they doing outside the shelter looking for the Hokage? Yet as he just explained, disposing of Orochimaru's summons was of higher priority than the adventure the three children had entangled themselves with.

* * *

AN: Sorry for the wait. Much as I'd like to blame a hectic schedule, or even misplace the blame on my new beta, I unfortunately cannot. I simply managed my time poorly. Also, as per my beta's suggestion, I'll be separating chapters into roughly half their original size from now on.


	19. Ch 17 Oto Invation Pt III 2

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. Details in my profile.

Jiraiya felt the snake's chakra even before it came into view and immediately started the required seal sequence. After years of warring with Orochimaru, he had learned that most snakes could defeat toads of similar chakra costs, though, as with all rules, there were still exceptions. If the female pipsqueak (Moegi?) was correct, Jiraiya knew which of the toads would easily handle this task.

There was a weak structural point in the snake's back at the juncture of the three necks, just as the underside of the that point was reinforced with bones. Indeed, the entire belly of the beast was fortified in much the same manner, thereby countering the typical strategy for dealing with snakes, namely attacking from below.

It was no surprise that Orochimaru kept this particular snake a secret, only summoning it when there was very little probability of having its characteristics spread out. Indeed, not even the Hokage knew of this snake's existence.

Jiraiya, however, was among the select few aware of this abnormality, and he made the most of his knowledge. The toad he summoned in mid-air broke the cloud cover as soon as it formed, its unusual body density fighting air resistance to reach much higher terminal velocity than might be expected of anything its size.

The snake was caught by surprise, unprepared for anyone who knew of its weakness, and was instead was caught flat-footed while it reinforced its abdomen with chakra.

As soon as it noticed the threat, it attempted to flip over, moving some chakra to cover it's back as it moved. However, it had overlooked the toad's speed of descent, and was crushed before it could dispel itself.  
Jiraiya winced as the snake's heads flopped down to crush three districts of adjoining buildings: he had expected Orochimaru's Summons to be more self-serving than the behaviour implied.

Perhaps the snake was simply too slow, having its thoughts spread over three brains. Nevertheless, the deed was done and there were more important matters than to consider. Jiraiya thanked the toad before dispelling it.

* * *

Jiraiya left the experience behind him with a swiftness achievable only through experience and hurried to Konohamaru's previous location. Hopefully, the brats would heed the need for them to clear themselves from the fighting grounds; they would serve as distractions rather than witnesses.

There was also the matter of their insistence to see the Hokage. Konohamaru should know better than any other Academy students that a Hokage's role during wartime crises was quite different than during peaceful times: gone was the grandfatherly leader, replaced by a grim-faced commander tasked with coordinating the entire village's resources.

Yet none of the Academy students were in sight by the time he dropped back in on the site of his previous encounter with the Sandaime's grandson.

"Damn," Jiraiya muttered under his breath. The only recourse left was to track down the civilians, which turned out a more arduous task than the Sannin would have believed at the outset.

While the tracks were usually clear, they blurred every so often, or forked over to an impasse in most branches. The deceptions were benign, amateurish, yet it still took the legendary ninja nearly a full minute before he caught up to the three children. What the maneuvers lacked in quality, the Konohamaru Corps compensated with quantity.

Thus, Jiraiya felt no shame when he dropped down in front of the three children with a stern face, arms crossed for further intimidation. His audience cringed and shriveled back, as he expected, yet the Sannin wasn't done just yet. For nearly two minutes he hollered on, unchallenged in his exposition regarding the importance of following orders and applying common sense to analyze situations, until Konohamaru had had enough.

"What do you mean, using our common sense? Why don't you use yours, stupid old man! Jiji is in danger, and all you can do is yell at us?"

"Sensei -in danger? Pfft! You obviously don't know him that well if you think he can't fight. He may look old -in fact, he _is_ old- but trust me when I say that he can still fight."

"Baka! I know he's the strongest ninja in the village. I know that. Of course I know that! He's still the Hokage, ain't he? But there were all these signs of something bad going on before the invasion, and then the statue cracked when we were getting into the shelters."

Despite his boisterous proclamation, Jiraiya had felt uneasy about the Sandaime ever since the start of the invasion. Thus, he decided not to disregard premonitions as he usually would. Instead, he led the trio on a merry stroll across the battlefield that Konoha had become.

On the way to meet the venerable Hokage, Jiraiya veered off once for a team of Konoha Chunins that was about to be overcome by the invaders' brutal tactics. One Oto Jonin with a second-stage release of the curse mark forced a wall of sound to surround the Chunins while two of her compatriots lit the jutsu with a modified _Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu_. The last member of the squad, one Suna Chunin, was preparing the _Fuuton: Atsugai_.

The Chunins had no chance of escaping from the inferno that was about to materialize, especially not with the pressure generated from the unknown Sound jutsu and the stationary Fire.

Therefore, Jiraiya took it upon himself to disrupt the invaders' plan. First he threw a shuriken towards the Suna Chunin's mouth. It was a weak shot, one that the target easily evaded; yet, it served its purpose.  
While the offensive jutsu was delayed in its release, Jiraiya blurred past the Chunin to drive a kunai through the _Katon_ user's chest, killing him instantly. The bearer of the cursed mark proved more skillful, managing to evade the first kunai thrust as well as the follow-up kick. In doing so, however, he liberated the Konoha Chunins from their prison of raging fires.

Once the three Chunins leapt out of the still-crackling whirlwind, Jiraiya considered his current task completed -after all, he sought to fulfill a much larger goal. With a final blow to his opponent, one that knocked the Jonin out of his released stage, Jiraiya bounded back to the Academy students. The entire exchange had lasted two heartbeats. However, getting the Konohamaru Corps out of their stupor and back onto their course, lasted twice as long.

The next unchartered stop was distinctly less pleasant. Jiraiya stumbled onto the sight as he vaulted above a crumbling wall, neatly sidestepping the shower of bricks. There were four Suna Jonins fighting against two Konoha Jonin, the other two squad members having already fallen.

As before, two were pulling the Jonin with a powerful vacuum, presumably generated by some coordinated Wind jutsu. Swaying with the movement was not an option, as a barricade of Earth spikes awaited them. Yet the pull was strong enough that they could not move away, and were forced to bat away the water jutsu thrown by the fourth Suna Jonin.

Before Jiraiya could intervene, more spikes suddenly jutted out from underground. As expected of ones of such rank rank, both Konoha Jonins managed to flip safely with the thrust. Their stamina was however insufficient to compensate for the vacuum pulling them toward the Earth jutsu. The best they could manage was to control their tumbling to land with their feet against the deadly barricade.

However, they had forgotten about one member of their opposing squad, and the latter took the opportunity to form water whips that reached out, ensnaring their hands, leaving them dangling in the air. The two _Fuuton_ users took note of the development, immediately ceasing their jutsu and replacing it with a jointly-created _Kaze no Yaiba_.

Jiraiya watched on with fury as the duo was slaughtered even as he took care to shield the pre-Genins from the spectacle with his body. In the previous fights of the day he'd kept it impersonal -they were merely soldiers, pawns hired to crush his hometown.

Keeping his perspective had been easy. After all, he was a veteran from the last shinobi world war, and as such had seen worse committed before him. Even today, some of the more zealous Oto ninjas had done much more despicable acts of unnecessary cruelty. Yet these were _children_ behind him, not even anointed into the military ranks, not even fully educated in the basic world of ninja.

In a war, prodigies constantly stumbled onto battlefields. One must therefore always be prepared to slay whoever one faced, regardless of age and gender; just as one may not afford the distraction of delaying kills until said child was no longer within sight. Yet this was _not_ such a battlefield: the terrain was a village! It was this distinction that drove Jiraiya's anger beyond the brim, and it was the presence of the three children behind him that broke the pent-up emotions of seeing his home village destroyed, the familiar landscape ruined.

Before he could think better of it, his finger were already locked in the final Ram seal of the _Kuchiyose no Jutsu_.

Normally, Jiraiya would limit himself to the smaller combat toads in the clan -tough warriors even without their armor, more than sufficient to defeat most Chunin in one-on-one matches when Jiraiya himself was not available. Yet he was rather incensed by the callousness of the invaders and his animosity bled into the jutsu. Rather then summoning Gama and his friend Hiki, one Great Fire Toad appeared. Hikigaeru wasn't fully-grown yet, standing only at three-stories tall rather than ten, yet his sheer size was still sufficient to cow the Suna ninjas into a moment of indecision.

That moment was all it took for Hikigaeru to envelop all four Jonins with the white flames that only its species could conjure, the resulting heat being such that some even dared compare it against the netherworldly Amaterasu in intensity -only those who hadn't witnessed the all-consuming black flames, of course, yet even the existence of an uninformed comparison was telling. The four victims were instantly incinerated as plasma danced and licked at them, leaving naught but cinders swirling in the wake of the blinding streak of white. One breath was all that Hikigaeru took, and one breath was all that it required.

Jiraiya took a moment to recompose himself. He couldn't help the Sandaime if he spent all of his energy fighting grunts, and he would definitely need to keep his calm if he were to face whoever it was that could cause trouble for the Sandaime. A moment later, he reopened his eyes and thanked Hikigaeru before dispelling it with a puff of smoke. Haste would be required if they were to reach the Sandaime in time. Jiraiya returned his attention on the children behind him.

"All right, let's head to the Kage box. Hold on tight."

As soon as he felt tiny arms latch onto the sealing scrolll all Sages carried, Jiraiya disappeared with a burst of speed. Not yet ten paces later, however, he was forced to a halt when a dragonfly burst through the wall in front of him, sending the remaining structure tumbling down in the process.

Jiraiya recognized the insect as a mid-level Summons from Suna ninjas and as such knew of its _Fuuton_ abilities, having seen their destructive potential in the last war. Izumo and Kotetsu trailed the insect by scant meters, and Jiraiya could deduce from their panicked frenzy that they knew the deadly jutsu about to set off. Thus, he summoned a Toad tongue-first to snatch the insect in mid-flight and gobble it before it could release the grenade _Fuuton_ blast of their species.

Jiraiya departed once again before his charges had even come to terms with the abrupt interruption, much less registered the danger they had been in, and even before a short thanks by the pair of Chunin could be heard, air whooshed past once again and the environment blurred away into a nauseating stream of colors. Yet the three children held on, not out of necessity but from cold resolve.

This was no time to set one's own comfort before the self-appointed mission, especially not when the unpleasant experience would drastically reduce their travel time. After all, they would need this level of speed in their career and it could only help to become accustomed to its side-effects as soon as possible. As it was, they were starting to overcome their initial shock already.

The world suddenly lurched and spun out of control, gyrating madly until the Genins noticed that they weren't holding onto the Sannin anymore. Yet the world didn't aright itself even then. If anything, their sense of balance grew worse by the second, even with their eyes closed and hands protecting the ears.

A few moments later, their senses tilted back into axis. The sight that greeted them was rather unusual: a Toad and a Bat were clashing blades faster than their eyes could follow, and Jiraiya kept throwing _Katon_ jutsu left and right, presumably attempting to hit some elusive target who managed to stay out of sight.

And then one _Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu_ exploded from a collision with a wall of air, parting to reveal a hidden Oto Jonin. Before the flames could disperse from the impact, and the opponent could reassume the invisible cloak, Jiraiya created a swamp underneath, one that swallowed the Jonin while he was busy quenching the flames on his body.

The Sannin turned his attention onto the summon, his initial target having been restrained. The fight was slowly spiraling towards the Bat's advantage. Though Jiraiya typically thanked his summons before dispelling them, there was no way to do so safely in the current circumstances.

Indeed, he had summoned a deaf Toad to counter the effects of the bat's debilitating cries, and thus he couldn't simply thank the Toad with words while its attention was trained on the Bat. Therefore he dispelled it wordlessly even as he threw _Katon_ _Goukakyu no jutsu _through the Toad's previous location. The Bat resumed emitting its high-pitched song as soon as his opponent disappeared. Yet this was exactly what Jiraiya had counted on: the C-ranked jutsu was strengthened by the sound waves, and the resulting fire burned through the Bat's vocal chords nearly upon the jutsu's activation.

Without spending the effort of facing the imprisoned Oto Jonin, Jiraiya threw a shuriken backwards even as he marched to collect the Konohamaru Corps. There was no time to waste, and they had been distracted far longer than expected already. The Konoha ninjas lying in a pool of blood were ignored much to the Sannin's regret -nothing could be done anymore, not without a medic-nin at hand. Ichiraku's was left to burn, though Jiraiya noted with relief that the owners of the ramen stand seemed to have already escaped.

With the newfound focus, the quartet reached the Kage box in time to see the Hokage complete a jutsu. The particular sequence used sent chills up Jiraiya's spine: Snake, Boar, Ram, Rabbit, Dog, Rat, Bird, Horse and Snake, followed by palms clapping together after he grabbed Orochimaru's arm. There was no other jutsu with this particular combination, none from any of the many foreign lands Jiraiya had scoured and none to his knowledge from Hi no Kuni. Only Minato Namikaze had ever used it before, and then only in the sole case where even the Yondaime Hokage had no other recourse.

Why, then, was the Sandaime using the _Shiki Fuujin_?

* * *

The Hokage panted. He'd tried burning Orochimaru's minions only for them to reform from the ashes, and burying them with a _Doton: Yumi Noma_. The latter tactic had allowed him to engage Orochimaru in a brief weapons match. He may no longer have the stamina or the speed he'd possessed in his youth, but he'd developed an ability to read opponents, and the wisdom of experience. These aspects gave him enough confidence to charge in head-on, and his assumptions were vindicated. He'd held his own for the first few exchanges, each combatant testing the waters before diving in fully. However, just as he and Enma were gaining a decisive advantage over Orochimaru with his Kusanagi sword, the cadavers clawed their way back to the surface. The covert strike was evaded by sheer luck, as he'd been busy dodging Orochimaru's increasingly desperate struggles.

From there on, however, it was clear that Orochimaru now held the upper hand. As soon as the Hokage recovered from his surprise, he'd had to twist out of a _Sen'eijashu_, an acid stream, and then yet another set of Shadow Snake Hands. The Hokage was thankful Orochimaru no longer had enough chakra left to perform a Summoning, as the match would have definitely been lost if Manda were to appear. Nevertheless, Sarutobi was quickly running out of options to remove the minions from the fight. Physically damaging them wouldn't be of any use until Orochimaru was defeated, and not even the A-rank Swamp could hold them down long enough to deal a fatal blow.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was busy enough trying to devise methods to dispose of either Orochimaru or his minions that he almost missed the opening. Almost. At the last moment, though, he noticed a gap in Orochimaru's defense, and both of the jutsu creations were aligned on the other side. The Hokage forced himself to throw Enma away towards the minion while forming handseals at a frenetic pace. He completed the sequence in time to emprison both minions in a _Kongou Rouheki_ before Orochimaru's sword thrust pierced his shoulder.

This injury was also part of the opening the Hokage saw, however. He now used his hand to break Orochimaru's elbow to force the latter to release his weapon. Once this was accomplished, the Sandaime did not waste time to remove the sword to use against its wielder. Not only would this action be impossible, as the sword responded to Orochimaru's very chakra, but it would waste the precious surprise he now held over Orochimaru. Instead, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of Konoha, corkscrewed his entire body, using his shoulder to slash Kusanagi into Orochimaru. The Snake Sannin managed to sidestep within the eyeblink it took for his ex-sensei to complete the motion, such that the blade missed his heart. Nevertheless, Sarutobi's calculations proved true, and the blade still sank into Orochimaru's chest and tore through the right lung.  
Both legendary ninjas, of status such that their very names had become household expressions throughout the Elemental Nations, fell listlessly; Orochimaru with eyes wide in shock and blood trickling through his lips, and the Sandaime with the Kusanagi still embedded in his shoulder. And then, the Sannin's facial muscles twitched and contorted until they settled into a rictus of a smile.

"Kukuku! Sarutobi-sensei; who'd have thought? You do have what it takes, after all. Too bad, though, that the one wound you have is a fatal one. Oh, did I forget to mention? I've coated the blade with such a poison that not even Tsunade-hime can heal you, even if she did try. Me on, the other hand..."

Orochimaru forced himself to a sitting position before he opened his mouth wide open much as his minions did earlier. Sarutobi Hiruzen was rooted to his spot, utterly transfixed by the sight. Instead of spawning a snake as usual, two pale hands emerged, as white as ivory and glistening with some thick liquid, and grabbed one side of the mouth each. They pushed against each other, and the mouth opened even wider before shredding into two halves. The tear extended further down the body to reveal two clothed arms. A short while later, Orochimaru stood amid the gore and discarded clothes, physically intact.

"Kukuku! Body shedding is quite the useful ability, wouldn't you agree Sarutobi-sensei?"

When all seemed lost, the Sandaime recalled another time when an enemy of Konoha seemed invincible, one who marched through any and all jutsu thrown its way without breaking stride or even taking any damage. Back then, a hope had been sparked when the Yondaime Hokage had buckled down and derived overnight an impossible seal array -the _master seal_ of legend, if the whispered sayings were to be believed, one with power enough to subjugate the entire world.

Though the Sandaime was no match for the sheer brilliance of one Minato Namikaze even with the aid of extra years of study on a pre-existing system, the Sandaime did decipher enough of the overall structure from the schematics to note one important restriction: it could only be applied to otherwise immortal creatures, ones who required naught but chakra to sustain themselves.

Though the Sandiame's seal knowledge coulnd't hope to match the sheer brilliance of the Yondaime Hokage's, even with all the extra years, that time spent had shed some light on the mechanics. Namely, the seal itself could only work on chakra constructs, or creatures that could sustain themselves infinitely and immortally as long as they had chakra. It was for this very reason that anyone knowledgeable enough who had seen the seal held no interest in selling the information to the highest bidder: what use could it be when its only targets were _Bijuu_? Yet here was Orochimaru, who had in his bid for immortality created an artificial system to which the seal could be applied. The Hokage would have chuckled at the irony, were it not for the formidable problems inherent with using the Yondaime's solution.

It was a monster of a seal, complex beyond anything the Sandaime had ever seen during his long tenure. Yet unlike the other original contribution by the Yondaime, the one behind the signature _Hiraishin no Jutsu_, each element studied so far seemed familiar when taken individually, and the overall architecture was a standard 8-way topology rather than unorthodox runes criss-crossing three-fold space as found in the tightly-guarded seals powering the _Hiraishin_. Indeed, the main reason the _Hiraishin _had yet to be duplicated laid not in the secrecy surrounding the underlying seals, but rather in the complete lack of precedence. No other seal had ever shown compatible geometry, and the vast majority of the symbols had never before been used in _Fuuinjutsu_, even simple as they were.

His lesser-known masterpiece, on the other hand, was built upon conventional tools, the symbols blessedly familiar to the Sandaime. Even Orochimaru's _Juuinjutsu _involved more groundbreaking research in basic runes than that of either the _Shiki Fuujin_ or the _Hakke no Fuuin Shiki_. No, the problem lay instead in untangling the recognizable cells from each other without disturbing the overall matrix. Even without the novel connections between the cells, the sheer depth of the murky waters was quite effective a deterrent for anyone (hopefully, someone such as Orochimaru) wishing a casual understanding of the seal.

As a testament to the younger leader's genius, both of Konoha's resident Sealmasters poking and prodding the monstrous enigma over twelve years had yet to completely elucidate even half of its spread. Their combined efforts were however sufficient to locate most of the general-purpose units as well as a few (three, to be exact) of the more specialized ones. Luckily for the Sandaime, one of these was the recently-deciphered interface to the _Hakke no Fuuin Shiki_, and it was similar enough to the conduit linking batteries to converters that the Hokage recognized its basic structure. It was designed to trap _Bijuu_ chakra within, to pull in whichever parts were still outside, to create a vacuum of sorts. Or rather, so it would seem at first brush. This was one of the most heavily scrutinized portions of the seal, and also paradoxically the least understood of all the studied elements. There were no _jinchuuriki_ seals in Konoha for comparison, yet even so, even conservative Homura was convinced this had to be a stroke of genius. This was the reason both Homura and Koharu sided with him against popular opinion to allow Naruto as normal a childhood as possible under the circumstances. This was also one element he would have to modify were he to trap Orochimaru within himself.

_Bijuu_ were creatures of pure chakra, while Orochimaru was flesh and blood which happened to produce chakra. In addition, the soul of the _Bijuu_ were dark, much darker than even Orochimaru's twisted essence, as if forged in the blood of the fallen and tainted by the very passage of time. That change would have to be accounted for as well. And finally, perhaps most importantly, there was no baby to receive the transfusion; no one even nearby to receive the chakra/soul/spirit that the Shinigami would rip out. An inanimate object would have been the preferred choice, as whomever received the gift would die from chakra autoimmunity -something that not even _iijutsu_ had ever truly cured in the sparse instances where it had been rumored to arise.

The only hope for survival would be to have a tolerant chakra body (such as that developed between womb-mates), a compatible chakra receiver (typically very closely related family members) or an undeveloped chakra network (found only in babies less than one full day old). Since none of the three options were available, the next best choice would have been an inanimate object. However, the power of the seal array was such that only living beings could contain it, and carry it to their deaths. Otherwise, Orochimaru would be free to waltz out of whichever container was chosen as soon as its integrity was challenged. No, concluded Sarutobi Hiruzen, the only possible choice was a human. Himself.

Which he was very reluctant to enact, because it would cause another complication, a paradox he had no taste to test. He would surely die of chakra poisoning even before the Sealing was complete. However, the Shinigami also required the life of the caster to complete the Sealing. If he died before the Shinigami completed the ritual, would Orochimaru die as well or simply be released to travel back to his body? It was in times such as these that the Sandaime truly appreciated the work of his successor/predecessor: how could any one man complete and document the design entirely from scratch within one short night, and still retain enough lucidity of mind to apply the titanic seal on the _Kyuubi_? Though the symbols were standard, the weave connecting them certainly wasn't. Now that the Sandaime had to attempt a similar feat even on the miniscule portions using a system he'd studied over an entire decade, he wished for more time, more help with the task at hand.

Yet surely Orochimaru would not be so kind as to allow him enough respite to trudge through the esoteric markings in his mind to devise ways to simplify it enough such that he would not require himself as the target. The Sannin was readying himself even now, and his fingers were once more ready to contort through the seals of whichever jutsu he would unleash. Sarutobi watched with trepidation. After all, given his well-known goal of learning all the jutsus in the world, surely he'd have already amassed a sizable collection by now. And then, while reflecting on Orochimaru's lust for ever more techniques, the Sandaime saw a way to make the Sealing work, to remove the edge from Orochimaru. Even better, the modifications required by this latest development were quite minor.

Instead of killing Orochimaru, he would simply remove the soul-chakra of the Sannin's arms and seal them inside his own body. Since they had no consciousness on their own, it would be quite safe even if they were to wander out, and Orochimaru would never again be able to perform jutsu requiring handseals -or use his hands for any other purpose, not without a soul component to the chakra. Just as a perfectly healthy body could not survive without a soul, Orochimaru's hands would not last long without his soul-chakra, regardless of whichever regeneration jutsu the Sannin had invented or expropriated during his exile. Now, if only the Hokage could have a few moments to devise the modified seal array, the jutsu would be ready.

And eyes wide with disbelief, the Sandaime watched as Orochimaru went through the sequence of the _Mandara no Jin,_ that special jutsu Orochimaru devised to drown his opponents beneath a tidal wave of summoned snakes. The Hokage watched two more seals just to make sure this wasn't some novel invention, but concluded that the Sannin was severely underestimating his ex-sensei. This would work to the Hokage's advantage: while the snakes were quite dangerous and his customary tactic of striking from behind an adamantine barrier was unavailable at the moment, the jutsu would hide the Sandaime from the Sannin for a brief moment between jutsu activation and full release. That brief window proved more than sufficient for the Hokage to sink into the earth while leaving a mud-clone behind when Orochimaru spouted the roiling wall of reptiles. The Hokage finalized his design once safely tucked underground and cleared out the old Seal array from his mind -it wouldn't do to have gone through all that trouble only to attempt sealing a _Bijuu_ by mistake!

The only variable left to bind would be tagging his renegade student with the seal array. The Hokage faced Orochimaru to address this issue, his visage somber with resolve. "Orochimaru," intoned Sarutobi, "your madness stops now. I will defeat you!"

His bluff delivered, the Sandaime started the handseal sequence. The Sannin would be unlikely to grasp the true motive of the suicidal move even should he recognize the jutsu: whereas Orochimaru himself would go for the kill, especially if he were to lose his own life in the process, the Hokage was wise enough to choose the more conservative option when necessary. And thus, Orochimaru hadn't expected the Sandaime to grab onto his hand when the nukenin blocked the Hokage's palm thrust.

"Kukuku! Sarutobi-sensei, are you so weak that you need to grab me to keep standing?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen kept his head bowed for a heartbeat longer before showing his smirk to the rogue ninja. "You never were very careful when it came to Konoha citizens, were you?"

Orochimaru tried to jump backwards, but it was already too late by then. The Hokage clapped his free hand on top of the one holding the Sannin and the Shinigami flickered into Orochimaru's view behind the aged leader, hand already extended through the Sandaime's body. A frantic drop backwards freed his forearm from the grip, yet the Sandaime's fingertips were still in contact with Orochimaru's clothes. The Shinigami grabbed onto both arms at once with one ethereal hand, and Orochimaru fell no longer.

The most intense pain Orochimaru could imagine washed over his entire body. The most intense pain, burning and agonizing; and the most complete numbing all at once, as if it suddenly didn't matter anymore, as if the world suddenly stopped existing. When Orochimaru could focus once more, could force himself back to the present, he saw the Shinigami pulling out his arms. Though he wasn't present at the time, having already defected a few years prior*, Orochimaru was well aware of the Yondaime's exploits when faced with the _Kyuubi's_ excursion into Konoha. He was therefore aware as such of the significance of the sight in front of him; knew of the very real possibility of being slain by his ex-teacher despite the immortality jutsu he'd developed.

He tried to retract his limbs before it was too late, bucked with the energy of a cornered animal to prevent having any more of his soul yanked out. Yet the towering Death God did not seem to notice his efforts. Instead, the Shinigami unsheathed the dagger between its teeth even as it peeled more of Orochimaru's soul-chakra away from the Sannin's body. Orochimaru was now positively frantic, even attempting to cut the Shinigami's wrist with the Kusanagi sword using his tongue, only to see the legendary blade pass through the ethereal mass without disrupting the proceedings. And then, the Shinigami completed its job and severed his arms. Orochimaru passed out.

* * *

It seemed that the fight ended in but an eyeblink. The Sandaime completed the required sequence for the _Shiki Fuujin_, and both combatants fell down. The creations Orochimaru had presumably unleashed stopped writhing within the _Kongou Rouheki_ of King Enma, settling down into a pile of grey ashes and green goo that dissolved a crater in the roof. Orochimaru twitched twice after falling down before staying unnaturally immobile. Black and brown pulsed from his veins until the entire arms were discolored. The Sandaime, on the other hand, looked perfectly healthy, staying face-down on top of the Snake Sannin as if in peaceful sleep, or merely with chakra exhasution. Yet Jiraiya knew better.

The _Shiki Fuuin_ invoked the power of the Shinigami itself to perform the sealing. His cursory glance at the web of runes Minato had devised revealed nothing of the secrets housed therein. Indeed, the one conclusion Jiraiya had drawn from a direct observation of the sealing array was that it somehow managed to eclipse even Tsunade's most detailed diagram of the entire human body's known metabolic pathways. Scary indeed, especially when taking into account that the map he'd seen was the condensed version.

However, Jiraiya wasn't without any guide to the jutsu's characteristics. In addition to the seal array and verbal description of the process, Minato Namikaze had left two other pieces of documentation. One was kept safely with the Toads in Mount Myobokuzan, as per the late Hokage's wishes, but the other was kept on Jiraiya's person at all times, hidden within the scroll on his back.

Thus, Jiraiya knew from the latter manuscript that what the Sandaime attempted was possible in theory: the Yondaime Hokage had compartmentalized the runes into cells for future adaptation should a _Fuuinjutsu_ master ever wish to do so. The information was sparse, since there was not enough time to document the seal properly. Indeed, its very presence spoke of the Yondaime's skill and speed. Nevertheless, it was still more than sufficient for the Toad Sannin to understand that the jutsu would result in the Sandaime's immediate clinical death. After all, the Shinigami dealt solely with death, and was much too powerful and single-minded to negotiate any other type of agreement. Thus, one contract would invariably lead to one death. The Yondaime's notes were very clear on this point, just as it mentioned how the transaction would complete as soon as the jutsu was released.

The _Shiki Fuujin_ would capture the target by drawing upon the caster's soul, while the once-compounded _Shishou Fuuin_ was somehow twisted and warped into a _Hakke no Fuuin Shiki_ to interact with both the otherworldly nature imposed by the _Shiki Fuujin_ and the physical nature of the vessel. Such a wholly unnatural arrangement requires exorbitant compensation for stability, however, and the caster is forced to relinquish life-force to complete the jutsu: one life exchanged for one soul sealed.

Which, judging by Orochimaru's listless body, should have been the case. Why, then, were both duellists still breathing?

Jiraiya was about to approach further when he caught sight of an ANBU hidden nearby. To even a Kage-level ninja performing a cursory examination of the environment, Yamato would have been well-hidden. Jiraiya, however, was the stealth-specialist Sannin. As such, he was also able to detect the other four ANBU hidden in the vicinity. This would imply that the barrier was sufficiently well-formed to deter the Hokage's own black-ops protection squad from interfering with the fight.

Jiraiya took a second glance at the barrier jutsu. He had conjectured it to be a standard fire-based barrier, one that should have been dissolved by most water-based keys. Yet a more thorough examination revealed that no less than four elements were involved with its formation: fire, water, earth and air. The standard lessons in ANBU only taught neutral keys, and the advanced course dealt solely with single-element systems. If one were to show extreme potential as Kakashi had, one would be enrolled in the specialist program wherein two-element barriers were covered and the solution for specific cases of three-element seals were listed. It took a _Fuuinjutsu_ Master's skill to unravel standard three-system locks. A talented Sealmaster could still unlock a four-element configuration if the missing element were water. Yet lightning was absent, not water, and Jiraiya doubted even the Sandaime could have managed to derive the proper counter-seal in time.

Fortunately, Jiraiya was much better versed in the Sealing arts than his sensei. He unrolled the ever-present scroll on his back and started drawing squiggles on the paper even before it landed. By the time the sheet fell to the roof below, Jiraiya had covered the entire spread with symbols and lines save for five circles in the middle of the page. The Toad Sannin concentrated to create the _Gogyou Fuuin_ in his right hand. Once the purple lights flickered into existence, he braced his wrist with his left hand and touched the empty spots on the paper with his glowing fingers.

The ink wriggled and slithered on the paper until the entirety of the seal left the scroll to reside on the tip of Jiraiya's fingers. The Sannin took a moment to make eye-contact with the ANBU captain. The latter nodded: Jiraiya would be spent from cracking the barrier. The task of dealing with Orochimaru's four guards would fall to the ANBU, while the children behind him would rush the Hokage to the hospital. Jiraiya and Yamato alike frowned on assigning the more difficult task to pre-Genin ninja candidates, yet no alternative could be extracted from the current situation: the ANBU would have their hands full subduing Orochimaru's personal escort.

Jiraiya shook his head -he wouldn't help anyone by stalling further, not when no other solution existed. He retracted his hand to thrust it toward the barrier fingers first. The purple wall crackled and shimmered until stress lines stretched outward from the point of contact to cover the entire barrier. Jiraiya focused in on the base _Gogyou Fuuin_ once more, eyebrows creasing from the effort. The black markings turned to unlock the last resistance offered by the barrier with the drilling action. Jiraiya provided the final push, and the barrier collapsed on itself.

The effect was instantaneous: purple splinters shrieked through the air, showering Konoha and Oto nins alike with indiscriminate ferocity. Indeed, two of the five ANBU stationed nearby were knocked unconscious by the backlash, while Orochimaru's guards were forced to shield themselves with the remaining triangular barrier. It took Yamato's distinctive Mokuton jutsu to protect both Jiraiya and his charges while the two remaining ANBU operatives broke from their cover to seek shelter from the purple sleet slinking death and injury from above.

The four Oto nins moved as one to protect their fallen leader, and the triangular barriers melded together to form a pyramid, protecting Orochimaru and the Sandaime Hokage both from the falling doom. Once the bulk of the precipitation had already rained down, the quartet took their leader and sped away, leaving the Sandaime where he laid without a second glance. Though the Konoha soldiers knew not, Orochimaru had been very specific -in the unlikely event that their special barrier were to fall, they were to escape immediately with their leader and ignore all other directives unless given by Orochimaru. As there were no clauses indicating any actions to be taken should the Sandaime survive the encounter, they obeyed his implicit order. After all, they were well aware of their leader's ego, and finishing a job for him would most probably be interpreted as a slight to his abilities.

The Konoha nins, however, were unaware of all these considerations. They were merely grateful that their leader was left unharmed by Orochimaru's forces. ANBU Captain Yamato released his Mokuton jutsu as soon as it was safe, preferring to leave the scene in pursuit of Orochimaru's minions. One of the guards turned back and opened his mouth wide open. Yamato tensed his body in anticipation of some form of poison. Yet what spewed forth was neither acid nor poison mist, but a gigantic net of some white substance.

The space in-between the strands were however large enough for the ANBU Captain to slip through. The next one sent backwards was much tighter, yet the Captain's distinctive Mokuton jutsu easily took care of the silk strands slung through the air. Such had been expected by Orochimaru's guards, however, and the kunoichi's _genjutsu_ melded seamlessly with the _ninjutsu_ cast earlier. It was but child's play to shake free, especially after practicing under one Yuuhi Kurenai's jutsu, yet it was long enough for the next net to web him akimbo. By the time he slipped free of his restraints courtesy of a substitution with a _Mokuton Bunshin_, Orochimaru's squad had disappeared from view.

Yamato was tempted to track them down -the traces left behind were certainly more than sufficient for one of his abilities- yet he acknowledged the retreat as successful. He would serve the village better by applying his skills to regroup and recuperate than by wasting his time on a chase. He shot the departing party one last glance, memorizing the features of all five ninjas as well as the unusual jutsu two of them had shown so far. Should they ever pick up the trail later on, such knowledge could prove invaluable to the tracking party.

Currently, though, Yamato held up his hand, halting all three ANBU subordinates from further action. "They have fled too far. We will be of more use helping the village repelling the other invaders. First, though, we should somehow announce that Orochimaru had been impersonating the Kazekage. It is possible Suna will cease their attacks if this is news for them."

* * *

Danzou stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seemed Konoha had come out on top of this skirmish, though much was left in rubbles and more still would have to be destroyed to avoid compromising the integrity of the village -enemies of Konoha could have easily slipped in variable numbers of poisons or booby-traps during the invasion. Worse still, the Sandaime Hokage had sacrificed himself to preserve the village. Danzou may dislike Sarutobi Hiruzen, yet even Danzou recognized the ninja's prowess on the battlefield, even old and withered as the Sandaime was.

Where most ninjas would be faced with a dismal picture, however, Danzou saw an opportunity. Danzou smiled, although it appeared like a grimace to any watching.

* * *

*A/N: I understand that Orochimaru fled Konoha after the Kyuubi incident in canon. However, I had already committed myself to this interpretation, and will stick to it rather than change every mention.

A/N2: Thanks for RamenKnight for pointing out layout issues. I've restored the paragraphs as quickly as I could.


End file.
